Charged-particle beam apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a charged-particle beam apparatus capable of preventing a small amount of dust from being attached to an electrostatic lens serving as an objective lens to apply a high voltage to the electrostatic lens. The charged-particle beam apparatus 1 includes a chamber 2 which has an interior 2a evacuated by an intra-chamber evacuating means 4, and a lens-barrel 3 which emits a charged-particle beam B1 onto a sample S put in the interior 2a of the chamber 2. The lens-barrel 3 includes a cylindrical body 5 which includes an emission outlet 6 for emission of the charged-particle beam B1, a charged-particle supply part 7 which is housed at a side of a proximal end 5b in an interior 5a of the cylindrical body 5 and releases the charged-particle beam B1, and an objective lens 11 which is housed at a side of a distal end 5b in the interior 5b of the cylindrical body 5 and has an electrostatic lens for generating an electric field and converging the charged-particle beam B1 released from the charged-particle supply part 7. The cylindrical body 5 of the lens-barrel 3 is provided with a gas supplying means 12 capable of supplying a gas G to the interior 5b of the cylindrical body 5, and the gas supplying means 12 is provided at a side of a proximal end of the objective lens 11.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.