Patent ID: 8530866

Claim:
A pattern observation method for observing a pattern formed on an insulating film and having a concave pattern and a convex pattern, the method comprising: irradiating both of the concave pattern and the convex pattern in the pattern with a first observing charged particle beam, to obtain a temporary image of the pattern having region information of a convex pattern region corresponding to the convex pattern and region information of a concave pattern region corresponding to the concave pattern; irradiating the convex pattern region in the pattern with a first electric field forming charged particle beam having a first incident voltage for forming an electric field in the convex pattern region and irradiating the concave pattern region in the pattern with a second electric field forming charged particle beam having a second incident voltage for forming an electric field in the concave pattern region, wherein the second incident voltage is different from the first incident voltage, based on the region information of the convex pattern region and the region information of the concave pattern region respectively, thereby forming an electric field between a top surface of the convex pattern and a bottom surface of the concave pattern so that charged particles emitted from the bottom surface of the concave pattern when the bottom surface is irradiated with the charged particle beam may be drawn out of the pattern; and irradiating both of the concave pattern and the convex pattern in the pattern with a second observing charged particle beam after the electric field is formed, to obtain an image of the pattern having the information of the bottom surface of the concave pattern.