Sample piece relocating device

A sample piece relocating device, comprising:

• a sample piece carrying mechanism;
• a stage;
• a stage driving mechanism;
• optics configured to split predetermined light emitted from a light source to irradiate an observation target and a reference surface and synthesize a reflected light from the observation target and a reflected light from the reference surface to form an image of synthesized light representing a state of interference of the two reflected lights;
• an image capture device;
• an optics driving mechanism;
• and
• a control device configured to:
• control the stage driving mechanism to move the stage based on information relating to a processing to prepare a sample piece from a sample by irradiating the sample with a charged-particle beam using a charged-particle beam device, wherein the stage is configured to maintain both the sample and a sample piece holder;
• control the optics driving mechanism to move the optics relative to the stage to change a distance between the optics and the stage based on the state of interference detected in the image captured by the optics while moving the optics;
• obtain, from the image capture device, a signal of an image obtained by capturing the image formed by the optics while moving the optics;
• detect a position of the observation target based on 1) coordinate data representing a position of the optics in real space at a point where intensity or contrast of interference fringes detected in the image is maximized while moving the optics by means of the optics driving mechanism and 2) a distribution of the interference fringes by:
• (a) acquiring a microscopic image containing the distribution of the interference fringes, (b) identifying a number of interference fringes observed on surfaces of the observation target corresponding to a height difference of the surfaces of the observation target, and (c) determining the position of the observation target based on the identified number of the interference fringes;
• control the sample piece carrying mechanism to separate, extract, and hold the sample piece from the sample based on the information relating to the processing, on the detected position of the observation target, and on the state of interference detected in the image captured by the optics while moving the optics;
• and
• control the sample piece carrying mechanism to carry the sample piece to the sample piece holder based on the information relating to the processing, on the detected position of the observation target, and on the state of interference detected in the image captured by the optics while moving the optics,
• wherein the information relating to the processing comprises information on a position of the sample piece based on coordinates of processing positions of the charged-particle beam device.