Abstract: The invention is directed to a charged particle beam apparatus that enables temperature maintenance in a cooling unit provided inside a vacuum application apparatus using a refrigerant. The charged particle beam apparatus includes a cooling tank that contains a refrigerant for cooling a cooling unit, a cooling pipe that supplies the refrigerant from the cooling tank to the cooling unit, and a unit that leads the refrigerant to liquefy when the refrigerant is biased to a solid.

Abstract: In conventional structures, a space between a dual cooling tank is vacuum insulated, and a cooling part is cooled via a highly thermally conductive material connected to an inner container. Such structures are affected by heat infiltrating into the highly thermally conductive material and the cooling part. For instance, in cases when liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant, it takes approximately 30 minutes for the temperature to reach ?120° C. Even in cases when a significant amount of time has been spent, the temperature only reaches approximately ?150° C., and thus falls significantly short of the temperature of liquid nitrogen, namely ?196° C.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a charged particle beam apparatus that enables temperature maintenance in a cooling unit provided inside a vacuum application apparatus using a refrigerant. The charged particle beam apparatus includes a cooling tank that contains a refrigerant for cooling a cooling unit, a cooling pipe that supplies the refrigerant from the cooling tank to the cooling unit, and a unit that leads the refrigerant to liquefy when the refrigerant is biased to a solid.

Abstract: In an existing specimen cryo holder, a change in the orientation of a specimen would lead to tilting of a dewar together with the specimen and hence to bubbling of a cooling source contained in the dewar. In view of this, a specimen cryo holder, including a mechanism capable of cooling a specimen while keeping the posture of a dewar in a fixed direction even when the specimen is tilted into a direction suitable for processing or observation thereof, is provided. Also provided is a dewar in which a vacuum maintenance mechanism is mounted to an outer vessel so that an inner vessel holding a cooling source therein is vacuum-insulated from the outside air.

Abstract: In conventional structures, a space between a dual cooling tank is vacuum insulated, and a cooling part is cooled via a highly thermally conductive material connected to an inner container. Such structures are affected by heat infiltrating into the highly thermally conductive material and the cooling part. For instance, in cases when liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant, it takes approximately 30 minutes for the temperature to reach ?120° C. Even in cases when a significant amount of time has been spent, the temperature only reaches approximately ?150° C., and thus falls significantly short of the temperature of liquid nitrogen, namely ?196° C.

Abstract: In view of that in an existing specimen cryo holder a change in the orientation of a specimen would lead to tilting of a dewar together with the specimen and hence to bubbling of a cooling source contained in the dewar, provided is a specimen cryo holder (13) including a mechanism (14, 15, 17, 18) capable of cooling a specimen (1) while keeping the posture of a dewar in a fixed direction even when the specimen (1) is tilted into a direction suitable for processing or observation thereof. Also provided is a dewar wherein a vacuum maintenance mechanism (24, 25) is mounted to an outer vessel (21) by which an inner vessel (23) holding a cooling source therein is vacuum-insulated from the outside air.