Charged particle beam apparatus

Abstract

In many cases, the charged particle beam apparatus is used basically for observation at a magnification of 10,000 times or higher. It is thus difficult to recognize how the orientation of a sample seen with the naked eye corresponds to the origination of the sample appearing on an acquired image. This makes it difficult intuitively to grasp the tilt direction and other details of the sample. An object of this invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus allowing the orientation and the tilted state of the sample to be grasped intuitively. The apparatus includes: a charged particle beam source that emits a charged particle beam; a charged particle beam optical system that irradiates the sample with the charged particle beam; a platform on which the sample is placed; a stage capable of moving the platform at least in a tilt direction; a display unit that displays a tilted state of the platform by use of a simulated image of the platform; an operation input unit that allows a user to designate the position and direction of the sample for observation; and a control unit that controls the amount of movement of the stage based on a signal input from the operation input unit.