Charged particle beam device and sample analysis method

A charged particle beam device comprising:

• an observation chamber;
• a first body tube mounted on the observation chamber;
• a first charged particle source provided inside the first body tube and capable of radiating a first charged particle beam;
• a first stage which is provided below the first charged particle source inside the observation chamber and in which a sample holder holding a sample is installable;
• a preprocessing chamber connected to the observation chamber via a gate valve;
• and
• a sample exchange rod provided inside the preprocessing chamber and used to move the sample holder between the observation chamber and the preprocessing chamber,
• wherein the preprocessing chamber includes a first unit and a second unit that are detachably mountable each other,
• wherein, in the first unit, the gate valve is provided, and
• wherein, in the second unit, the sample exchange rod is provided.

A sample analysis method performed using a charged particle beam device including:

• an observation chamber including a first exhaust port;
• a first body tube mounted on the observation chamber;
• a first charged particle source provided inside the first body tube and capable of radiating a first charged particle beam;
• a first stage which is provided below the first charged particle source inside the observation chamber and in which a sample holder holding a sample is installable;
• a preprocessing chamber connected to the observation chamber via a gate valve and including a second exhaust port and a third exhaust port;
• a second body tube mounted on the preprocessing chamber;
• a second charged particle source provided inside the second body tube and capable of radiating a second charged particle beam;
• a second stage which is provided below the second charged particle source inside the preprocessing chamber and in which the sample holder holding the sample is installable;
• a sample exchange rod provided inside the preprocessing chamber and used to move the sample holder between the observation chamber and the preprocessing chamber;
• a first vacuum pump including a first intake port and a second intake port;
• a second vacuum pump including a third intake port and having an attainable degree of vacuum lower than the first vacuum pump;
• a first exhaust pipe connected to the first intake port and the first exhaust port;
• a second exhaust pipe connected to the second intake port and the second exhaust port;
• a third exhaust pipe connected to the third intake port and the third exhaust port;
• a first valve provided halfway in the first exhaust pipe;
• a second valve provided halfway in the second exhaust pipe;
• and
• a third valve provided halfway in the third exhaust pipe, the method comprising:
• a step (a) of installing the sample holder holding the sample on the second stage;
• a step (b) of raising the degree of vacuum of each of the observation chamber and the preprocessing chamber by closing the gate valve, opening the first valve, closing the second valve, opening the third valve, and driving the second vacuum pump after the step (a);
• a step (c) of causing the degree of vacuum of the preprocessing chamber to be greater than the degree of vacuum in the step (b) by opening the gate valve, closing the third valve, and driving the first vacuum pump after the step (b);
• a step (d) of closing the gate valve and opening the second valve after the step (c);
• a step (e) of processing the sample by radiating the second charged particle beam from the second charged particle source to the sample while performing vacuum exhaust of the preprocessing chamber by the first vacuum pump after the step (d);
• a step (f) of opening the gate valve after the step (e);
• a step (g) of moving the sample holder holding the sample from the second stage to the first stage using the sample exchange rod after the step (f);
• a step (h) of closing the gate valve after the step (g);
• and
• a step (i) of observing the sample by radiating the first charged particle beam from the first charged particle source to the sample while performing vacuum exhaust of the observation chamber by the first vacuum pump after the step (h),
• wherein a caliber of each of the first intake port and the first exhaust port is larger than a caliber of each of the second intake port and the second exhaust port.