Patent ID: 6528787
Filing Date: 2003-03-04
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
A scanning electron microscope having a means for directing a sharply focused electron beam onto a specimen, a means for scanning said electron beam across the specimen in two dimensions, an image memory for storing image data obtained from the specimen by the scanning, a display means for displaying a specimen image based on the image data stored in said image memory, and a motor-driven specimen-moving device, said scanning electron microscope comprising:means for controlling the specimen-moving device virtually partitioning an area on the specimen to be scanned by the electron beam and from which an image may be taken into virtual cells defined by virtual grid lines and for moving said specimen to scan the cells individually by the electron beam; an image-synthesizing means for storing image data obtained from said virtual cells in locations of the image memory that are addressed corresponding to said virtual cells, thus creating data defining a synthesized image; a specifying means permitting an operator to specify an arbitrary area in the synthesized image displayed on the display means according to the data about the synthesized image; and a partial image display means for reading image data about the area specified by the operator from said image memory and displaying the image data as a partial image.