Patent ID: 8710439

Claim:
A charged particle beam apparatus comprising: a charged particle optical column that scans a sample with a primary charged particle beam; a detector that detects reflected electrons or secondary electrons obtained by the scanning; a vacuum pump; a first housing in which the whole charged particle beam apparatus is supported with respect to an apparatus installation plane, an interior of the first housing being evacuated to a vacuum by the vacuum pump; a second housing that has the sample stored therein and is fixed in position to a side face or an inner wall face of the first housing or to the charged particle optical column; and a thin film that is provided on a upper face side of the second housing to allow the primary charged particle beam to penetrate or pass therethrough, wherein a pressure in the second housing can be maintained higher than a pressure in the first housing, and the second housing has an open face that allows the sample stored in an interior of the second housing to be replaced while the interior of the first housing is maintained in a vacuum state.