Patent ID: 7446313

Claim:
A scanning electron microscope including an electro-optical system for scanning and irradiating top of a sample with an electron beam; a detection system for detecting a signal generated from a sample by the scanning and irradiation with the electron beam conducted by the electro-optical system; and automatic observation control means for controlling operation of the electro-optical system and executing an automatic observation process of the sample by using the detection system in accordance with a previously registered recipe, the scanning electron microscope comprising: image generation means for generating a sample image on the basis of a detected signal supplied from the detection system; image storage means for successively storing the sample image generated by said image generation means, and recording the sample image corresponding to a predetermined video quantity while successively overwriting the sample image; error image recording means for recording the sample image transferred from said image storage means; and recording control means responsive to an error in execution conducted by the automatic observation control means, for retroceding in the sample image successively stored in said image storage means before occurrence of the execution error included in the sample image successively stored in said image storage means, from time of the occurrence of the execution error by a predetermined video quantity, and recording the sample image in said error image recording means.