Patent Document ID: 9343264
Application ID: 13379042
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A scanning electron microscope device comprising: a scanning electron microscope; an imaging recipe composer configured to compose an imaging recipe for imaging a specimen, which has patterns formed on the surface thereof, using the scanning electron microscope; an image processor configured to process an image of the specimen, which is obtained by imaging the specimen using the scanning electron microscope, on the basis of the imaging recipe composed by the imaging recipe composer; a dimensional information extractor configured to extract dimensional information on a pattern, which is formed on the specimen, from the image of the specimen processed by the image processor; an input/output unit that includes a display screen and inputs or outputs information configured to be processed by the image processor and dimensional information extractor and information processed thereby; and a controller configured to control the microscope, imaging recipe composer, image processor, dimensional information extractor, and input/output unit, wherein the imaging recipe composer configured to calculate first index values between adjacent overlapping imaging areas, which indicate propriety or ease of joining between the adjacent overlapping imaging areas which are divided from a high-magnification image acquisition area by using design information on the high-magnification image acquisition area designated on a low-magnification image of the specimen picked up by the scanning electron microscope and to calculate second index values between non-adjacent imaging areas using the first index values which indicate propriety or ease of joining of two arbitrary local imaging areas, and composing an imaging recipe using the calculated first and second index values, wherein the controller configured to control the scanning electron microscope so as to allow the scanning electron microscope to image the local imaging areas at a high magnification on the basis of the imaging recipe composed by the imaging recipe composer, wherein the image processor configured to produce a high-magnification wide-area image by joining the high-magnification images of the local imaging areas picked up by the scanning electron microscope; and wherein the dimensional information extractor configured to extract a dimension of the pattern from the high-magnification wide-area image produced by the image processor, and wherein the imaging recipe composer configured to determine propriety or ease of joining of two arbitrary local imaging areas from a line segment length of the pattern contained in an overlap area between the two arbitrary adjoining local imaging areas.