Abstract: A wafer surface inspection method and apparatus of high sensitivity, and free from performance degradation in terms of cleanliness, coordinate repeatability of foreign particles and the like. Gas for cooling is sprayed onto a laser irradiation position on the wafer surface to prevent an increase in temperature of the foreign particles and to suppress break-down of the foreign particles.

Abstract: A charged-particle beam emitting device which includes the following configuration devices so that a lowering in the image resolution will be suppressed even if a primary beam is tilted relative to a sample: A device for causing orbit of the primary beam to pass through off-axes of a plurality of lenses, and controlling off-axis orbit of the primary beam. This device allows the aberration which occurs in the objective lens at the time of beam tilt to be cancelled out by the aberration which occurs in the other lens. Also, there is provided a device for simultaneously modulating excitations of the plurality of lenses including the objective lens.