Patent Document ID: 20080185519
Application ID: 12068417
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A charged particle beam apparatus including: a specimen chamber containing a specimen stage for holding a specimen; a charged particle beam column for scanning on the specimen with a primary charged particle beam, and detecting a secondary particle generated from the specimen to thereby output results of detection in the form of an output signal; and an operation unit for converting the output signal into pixel data, the charged particle beam column comprising: a magnetic lens unit for causing a magnetic field excited by current to act on the primary charged particle beam; and a control power supply source for executing a process for reducing magnetic hysteresis present in the magnetic lens unit by supplying the magnetic lens unit with excitation current of a predetermined magnitude for a predetermined time only, wherein the charged particle beam apparatus stops the process for reducing the magnetic hysteresis at a point in time when a diameter of a spot of the primary charged particle beam, on the specimen, becomes smaller than a set value.