Abstract: There is proposed a column supporting structure that includes a viscoelastic sheet, a supporting plate which holds the viscoelastic sheet, and a fixation portion which connects the supporting plate to each lens barrel. The viscoelastic sheet is disposed to extend in a plane perpendicular to one lens barrel or the other lens barrel.

Abstract: The present invention allows observation or capturing of a high-contrast image of a sample for which sufficient contrast cannot be obtained in bright-field observation, such as a wafer having a pattern with a small pattern height. According to the present invention, a sample is illuminated through an objective lens used for capturing an image, and an imaging optics are provided with an aperture filter so that an image is captured while light of bright-field observation components is significantly attenuated.

Abstract: There is proposed a column supporting structure that includes a viscoelastic sheet, a supporting plate which holds the viscoelastic sheet, and a fixation portion which connects the supporting plate to each lens barrel. The viscoelastic sheet is disposed to extend in a plane perpendicular to one lens barrel or the other lens barrel.

Abstract: The present invention allows observation or capturing of a high-contrast image of a sample for which sufficient contrast cannot be obtained in bright-field observation, such as a wafer having a pattern with a small pattern height. According to the present invention, a sample is illuminated through an objective lens used for capturing an image, and an imaging optics are provided with an aperture filter so that an image is captured while light of bright-field observation components is significantly attenuated.

Abstract: In related art, when a location to be analyzed is selected from inspection data, a relatively highly critical defect among entire defects is not selected as a defect to be analyzed. Further, when a mark is placed in a fixed position associated with a defect, the mark affects the defect itself depending on the shape and size of the defect, which is problematic in the following analysis made in an analysis apparatus. Moreover, in the case of a wafer with no pattern, a defect invisible to a SEM cannot be marked. To select a highly critical defect as a defect to be analyzed, an automatic classification result from a review SEM is used to select a defect to be analyzed. Further, to avoid an effect on a defect itself, a mark is placed in a position associated with the defect with the distance from the defect to the marking position changed on a defect basis.

Abstract: There is provided an apparatus which can accurately carry out focusing of an optical microscope mounted on a charged particle beam apparatus while restraining an increase in an apparatus cost and a reduction in a throughput. An approximate polynomial is formed based on a focus map of the optical microscope which is previously measured, and a control amount which adds a difference between a piece of wafer height information at that occasion and a piece of wafer height information in actual observation to the approximate polynomial is inputted as a focus control value of the optical microscope.