Multiple electron beam image acquisition apparatus and multiple electron beam image acquisition method

A multiple electron beam image acquisition apparatus comprising:

• an electromagnetic lens configured to receive incidence of multiple electron beams and refract them;
• a beam selection mechanism disposed in a magnetic field of the electromagnetic lens, and configured to be able to individually correct a trajectory of each beam of the multiple electron beams and select a desired number of beams from the multiple electron beams, where the desired number is variable;
• a limiting aperture substrate configured to block beams which were not selected from the multiple electron beams;
• a magnification adjustment optical system configured to change magnification of the beams selected, depending on a number of the beams, being the desired number, selected from the multiple electron beams;
• an objective lens configured to focus the beams selected onto a surface of a target object;
• a beam separator configured to separate, from the beams selected, secondary electrons emitted due to that the surface of the target object was irradiated with the beams selected;
• and
• a detector configured to detect the secondary electrons separated by the beam separator.