US 7,592,604 B2
Charged particle beam apparatus
Hirotami Koike, Tokyo (Japan); Shinichi Okada, Tokyo (Japan); Akira Higuchi, Tokyo (Japan); Masahiro Inoue, Tokyo (Japan); Masahiro Yamamoto, Tokyo (Japan); and Sumio Sasaki, Tokyo (Japan)
Assigned to Topcon Corporation, Tokyo (Japan)
Filed on Dec. 13, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/637,946.
Claims priority of application No. 2005-362703 (JP), filed on Dec. 16, 2005.
Prior Publication US 2007/0246651 A1, Oct. 25, 2007
Int. Cl. G01K 1/08 (2006.01); H01J 3/14 (2006.01); H01J 3/16 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 250—398  [250/306; 250/307; 250/310; 250/311; 250/396 R; 250/491.1; 250/492.1; 250/492.21; 250/492.22; 250/492.23; 250/423 R; 250/423 F] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A charged particle beam apparatus which illuminates a specimen with a charged particle beam focused thereon via a charged particle optical system arranged in a column, wherein:
between the charged particle optical system and the specimen, there is provided a plate-like member having an electrically conductive portion and an opening to transmit the charged particle beam; and
for the plate-like member to function as a charge preventive plate, the plate-like member is configured in such a manner that the plate-like member is enough large to cover at least a part of the charged particle optical system when viewed from the charged particle beam irradiation spot on the specimen, the plate-like member has a gas inflow path formed therein, and the gas inflow path has gas injection outlets formed to inject gas toward the charged particle beam irradiation spot on the specimen.