Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A charged particle beam apparatus for observing and estimating a sample by irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam to detect secondary charged particles such as electrons emitted from the sample, reflected electrons and backscattered electrons, said apparatus comprising an electro optical system which includes astigmatism adjusting means having a multipole for adjusting astigmatism of the charged particle beam, wherein said astigmatism adjusting means is supplied with a correction voltage which maximizes a value for adjusting focus obtained from an image of a pattern formed on said sample; and wherein said astigmatism adjusting means is operable to:(a) obtain a first pattern image including lines formed longitudinally and transversely on the sample;(b) adjust said electro optical system to obtain a first auxiliary voltage when the visibility of the longitudinal and transversal lines of the image becomes maximum;(c) apply the first auxiliary voltage to said multipole to adjust a cross section of the electron beam;(d) adjust said electro optical system while maintaining the first auxiliary voltage when the longitudinal line can been seen clearly to obtain a second auxiliary voltage when the visibility of the transverse line in the image becomes maximum; and(e) apply the second auxiliary voltage to said multipole to adjust the cross section of the electron beam so that a difference between the visibilities of the longitudinal line and the transverse line becomes minimum. 2. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said astigmatism adjusting means comprises a plurality of pairs of electrodes or coils opposing each other to place an optical axis of the charged particle beam at the center. 3. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said astigmatism adjusting means has an electrode comprised of said multipole;wherein said electrode includes a first auxiliary electrode for adjusting a focus of longitudinal lines of a pattern formed on the sample and a second auxiliary electrode for adjusting a focus of lateral lines of the pattern formed on the sample; andwherein said astigmatism adjusting means adjusts a longitudinal line focus by adjusting a voltage of said first auxiliary electrode and adjusts a lateral line focus by adjusting a voltage of said second auxiliary electrode under a condition where a voltage applied when the longitudinal line focus has become the best is kept fixed. 4. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said astigmatism adjusting means supplies a correction voltage which maximizes a value for adjusting focus obtained from an image of a second pattern having lines having a line width smaller than the lines of the pattern; andwherein said astigmatism adjusting means sets an average value of the best focus in the longitudinal direction and the best focus in the lateral direction as an initial value for focus adjustment of the second pattern. 5. A method of observing and estimating, in a charged particle beam apparatus, a sample by irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam to detect secondary charged particles such as electrons emitted from the sample, reflected electrons and backscattered electrons, in which said apparatus having an electro optical system which includes astigmatism adjusting means having a multipole for adjusting astigmatism of the charged particle beam, comprising:the step of obtaining a correction voltage which maximizes a value for adjusting focus obtained from an image of a pattern formed on said sample to adjust astigmatism of the charged particle beam,said method further comprising the steps of:(a) obtaining a first pattern image including lines formed longitudinally and transversely on the sample;(b) adjusting said electro optical system to obtain a fist auxiliary voltage when the visibility of the longitudinal and transversal lines of the image becomes maximum;(c) applying the first auxiliary voltage to said multipole to adjust a cross section of the electron beam;(d) adjusting said electro optical system while maintaining the first auxiliary voltage when the longitudinal line can be seen clearly to obtain a second auxiliary voltage when the visibility of the transverse line in the image becomes maximum;(e) applying the second auxiliary voltage to said multipole to adjust the cross section of the electron beam so that a difference between the visibilities of the longitudinal line and the transverse line becomes minimum; and(f) sequentially applying the steps (a)-(e) to patterns having narrower lines than the first pattern. 6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pattern includes lines and spaces, the lines being wiring lines formed longitudinally and laterally on the sample. 7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the width of said lines is 250 nm-45 nm. 8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein astigmatism is adjusted using the lines or the spaces sequentially in a descending order of the size thereof. 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein values for adjusting focus of the lines and the spaces are obtained in two different directions, and wherein a difference therebetween is used as an index to make the transition from one of the lines to the next line. 10. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein a longitudinal line focus is adjusted by adjusting a first auxiliary voltage for adjusting a focus of longitudinal lines of an image of a pattern formed on the sample, and wherein a lateral line focus is adjusted by adjusting a second auxiliary voltage for adjusting the lateral line focus under a condition where a voltage applied when the longitudinal line focus becomes the best is kept fixed. 11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein a correction voltage which maximizes a focal value obtained from an image of a second pattern having lines having a line width smaller than the lines is obtained, and wherein an average value of the best focus in the longitudinal direction and the best focus in the lateral direction is set as an initial value for focus adjustment in the longitudinal direction of the second pattern. 12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the method is automatically executed using an autofocus function. 13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sample is estimated in the midst of a process. 14. A charged particle beam apparatus, comprising:means for directing a primary charged particle beam to a sample for irradiation;means for guiding, to a detector, secondary charged particles having information about a surface of the sample and obtained by the irradiation of the primary charged particle beam directed to the sample;means for combining the secondary charged particles guided to the detector as an image,said apparatus further comprising:measuring means for measuring an amount of charge on a surface of the sample; andcharge eliminating means for reducing or eliminating the amount of charge on the surface of the sample on the basis of the amount of charge measured by the measurement means. 15. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein a current density of the primary charged particle beam is set to be equal to or less than 10 A/cm2. 16. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein energy of the primary charged particle beam is set to be equal to or more than 1 eV and less than 20 keV. 17. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the measuring means has means for measuring an electric potential of an area in the surface of the sample irradiated by the primary charged particle beam. 18. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the charge eliminating means comprises:a light source for irradiating the sample; andgas supplying means for supplying a gas to cover the surface of the sample uniformly. 19. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the light source is either a laser source or a light source lamp, and wherein a wavelength band of a laser beam from the laser source or incoherent light from the light source lamp is equal to or less than 300 nm-600 nm. 20. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein an irradiation density of the laser beam or the incoherent light is equal to or more than 1 W/cm2. 21. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a stage for placing the sample thereon, wherein the gas supplying means includes a cover having at least one gas introducing part and covering the sample placed on the stage. 22. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein gas pressure within a space covered by the cover is 0.0001-0.1 Pa. 23. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the gas is either one of Nitrogen, water vapor, a halogenous gas having high electron affinity and a combination thereof. 24. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the charge eliminating means further comprises a mechanism for controlling an amount of gas supplied by the gas supplying means and the intensity of light emitted from the light source on the basis of the output of the measuring means. 25. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the charge eliminating means obtains an amount of charge Q[c] of the sample, using the equation Q=C×V on the basis of an electrostatic capacity C[F] between wiring lines of the sample and a surface potential[V] of the sample measured by the measuring means. 26. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the charge eliminating means obtains an amount of charge Q[c] of the sample, using the equation Q=C×V on the basis of an electrostatic capacity C[F] between wiring lines of the sample and a surface potential[V] of the sample measured by the measuring means, andwherein the charge eliminating means calculates an amount of the introduced gas on the basis of the amount of charge, the amount of molecules of the introduced gas, temperature, a probability of ionization of the introduced gas, an elementary charge, a time constant of charge up and differential discharge speed of the cover. 27. A charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the charge eliminating means calculates an intensity of the light source on the basis of the amount of charge, a probability of ionization of the introduced gas, an elementary charge and a first ionizing voltage of the introduced gas. 28. A semiconductor manufacturing method characterized by inspecting a wafer in the midst of processing, using a charged particle beam apparatus as claimed in claim 14.