Composite charged particle beam apparatus

A composite charged particle beam apparatus, comprising:

• a focused ion beam column having an ion beam irradiation axis;
• an electron beam column having an electron beam irradiation axis, the electron beam column being arranged relative to the focused ion beam column so that the beam irradiation axes thereof intersect with each other substantially at a right angle;
• a sample stage movable in accordance with a coordinate system for moving a sample;
• a detector for detecting secondary particles generated from the sample;
• an observation image formation portion for forming a focused ion beam image and an electron beam image based on a detection signal of the detector;
• an optical microscope for observing the sample;
• a display portion capable of displaying the focused ion beam image, the electron beam image, and an optical microscope image on respective coordinate systems;
• and
• a stage control portion configured to change the coordinate system of the sample stage in the movement direction thereof using a control screen of the display portion to select any one of the coordinate systems of the focused ion beam image, the electron beam image, and the optical microscope image to thereby control movement of the sample stage using movement buttons on a stage control screen of the display portion.