Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of automatically correcting a charged-particle beam, comprising the steps of:irradiating a sample with the charged-particle beam via an aberration corrector and an objective lens, the aberration corrector having multipole elements;obtaining information about a cross section of the charged-particle beam based on plural images of a surface of the irradiated sample;calculating an amount of axial deviation of the optical axis of the charged-particle beam relative to the center of a multipole field in the aberration corrector based on the obtained information about the cross section of the beam; andautomatically applying feedback to the aberration corrector or to the objective lens according to the calculated amount of axial deviation. 2. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam, comprising:an aberration corrector equipped with multipole elements;irradiation means for irradiating a sample with the charged-particle beam via the aberration corrector and an objective lens;cross-sectional information-obtaining means for obtaining information about a cross section of the charged-particle beam based on plural images of a surface of the irradiated sample;calculation means for calculating an amount of axial deviation of the optical axis of the charged-particle beam relative to the center of a multipole field in the aberration corrector, based on the obtained information about the cross section of the beam; andfeedback means for automatically applying feedback to the aberration corrector or to the objective lens according to the calculated amount of axial deviation. 3. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein the number of used images of the surface of the sample is any one of two, three, and five. 4. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 3, wherein the number of the used images of the surface of the sample is two, and wherein a first one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength of the aberration corrector is set to a first value and a second one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a second value shifted from the first value by a given amount. 5. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 3, wherein the number of the used images of the surface of the sample is three, and wherein a first one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength of the aberration corrector is set to a first value, a second one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a second value changed from the first value by a first given amount in an X-direction, and a third one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a third value changed from the first value by a second given amount in a Y-direction. 6. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 3, wherein the number of the used images of the surface of the sample is five, and wherein a first one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength of the aberration corrector is set to a first value, a second one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a second value changed from the first value by a first positive given amount in an X-direction, a third one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a third value changed from the first value by a second negative given amount in the X-direction, a fourth one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a fourth value changed from the first value by a third positive given amount in a Y-direction, and a fifth one of the images is obtained when the focusing strength is set to a fifth value changed from the first value by a fourth negative given amount in the Y-direction. 7. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein said aberration corrector is equipped with four stages of multipole elements. 8. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 7, wherein each of the four stages of multipole elements constituting said aberration corrector has at least four pole elements. 9. A method of automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 1, wherein said aberration corrector is equipped with four stages of multipole elements, and wherein any one of dipole field produced by the stages of multipole elements in the aberration corrector, quadrupole field produced by the stages of multipole elements, hexapole field produced by the stages of multipole elements, octupole field produced by the stages of multipole elements, and focusing field produced by the objective lens is changed in strength. 10. A method of automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 9, wherein each image of the surface of the sample is obtained in synchronism with the changing of the strength of any one of the fields. 11. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein information about one or two cross sections of the charged-particle beam is obtained, and wherein said amount of axial deviation is calculated by multiplying the difference between the center of gravity of distribution of particle densities contained in the obtained information about one or two cross sections of the beam and the position of the origin contained in the information about the cross sections by a constant value. 12. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein information about one or two cross sections of the charged-particle beam is obtained, and wherein said amount of axial deviation is calculated by multiplying the difference between the center position of the cross-sectional contour of the beam contained in the obtained information about one or two cross sections of the beam and the position of the origin contained in the information about the cross sections by a constant value. 13. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein feedback is applied to the aberration corrector or to the objective lens in proportion to the obtained amount of axial deviation. 14. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 13, wherein said aberration corrector is equipped with four stages of multipole elements, and wherein feedback is applied to any one of dipole field produced by the stages of multipole elements in the aberration corrector, quadrupole field produced by the stages of multipole elements, and focusing field produced by the objective lens. 15. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein a decision as to whether the optical axis of the charged-particle beam has been corrected so as to enter a given range is automatically made by comparing the amount of axial deviation with a threshold value. 16. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 15, wherein processing for automated correction is repeated until said amount of axial deviation falls below the threshold value. 17. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein said sample is a reference sample, and wherein the sample is moved between a first position in a sample chamber where the sample is irradiated with the charged-particle beam and a second position where the sample is on standby for transfer to the first position. 18. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein said sample is a reference sample, and wherein the sample is a particle having a circular cross-sectional contour. 19. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein said sample is a reference sample, and wherein the sample can be a spherical particle made of gold or resin. 20. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein the axial deviation is corrected in X- and Y-directions independently. 21. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 2, wherein the obtained information about the cross sections of the charged-particle beam and the calculated amount of axial deviation are displayed. 22. An apparatus for automatically correcting a charged-particle beam, said apparatus comprising:an aberration corrector equipped with multipole elements and acting to correct aberration in the charged-particle beam;an aberration correction controller for controlling the strength of a multipole field produced by the aberration corrector;an objective lens;a control unit for supplying a control signal to the aberration correction controller or to the objective lens;cross-sectional information-obtaining device for obtaining a SEM image in synchronism with operation of the control unit and obtaining information about a cross section of the charged-particle beam;an axial deviation quantification device for quantifying the amount of the axial deviation of the optical axis of the beam from the obtained information about the cross section of the beam;a decision unit for making a decision from the quantified amount of axial deviation as to whether automated correction is completed; anda feedback device for outputting an amount of feedback to the aberration correction controller or to the objective lens from the quantified amount of axial deviation. 23. A method of controlling an aberration corrector for a charged-particle beam, the corrector being made up of plural stages of multipole elements, wherein a control unit controls the whole aberration corrector as a single lens, and wherein during the control, the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole lenses is kept constant. 24. A method of controlling an aberration corrector for a charged-particle beam, the corrector being made up of plural stages of multipole elements, wherein a control unit controls the whole aberration corrector as a single lens, and wherein during the control, the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole lenses and the objective lens is kept constant. 25. A method of controlling an aberration corrector for a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 23, wherein feedback is applied by said control unit either to a lens formed in such a way that the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole elements in the aberration corrector is kept constant or to a lens formed in such a way that the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole elements and objective lens is kept constant. 26. A method of controlling an aberration corrector for a charged-particle beam as set forth in claim 24, wherein feedback is applied by said control unit either to a lens formed in such a way that the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole elements in the aberration corrector is kept constant or to a lens formed in such a way that the lens strength ratio of the stages of multipole elements and objective lens is kept constant.