To surely protect a specimen from contamination, by storing a specimen in a vessel under an environment causing contamination, and taking out the specimen from the vessel under an environment which does not cause contamination.
A specimen 60 is accommodated in a cleaned clean filter pod 50 and covered with a casing 52, thereby obtaining a locked state. After the pod 50 is mounted on a pod stand 36 in a preliminary chamber 20, a lid 23 of the chamber 20 is closed, and air is discharged. By opening a bulkhead valve 90, the preliminary chamber 20 is connected with a working chamber 80 which are both in the state of vacuum. By starting a motor 41 of a lock releasing mechanism 40, the locking of the casing 52 is released. By starting an elevating mechanism 30, the pod stand 36 is made to descend. By moving a carrying robot arm 100, the specimen is taken up from the specimen stand 55, and transferred from the preliminary chamber 20 to the working chamber 80. A charged beam is generated from an electron gun, and a desired pattern is drawn on the specimen 60. After the drawing work is ended, the specimen 60 is carried out by reverse movement.
Hirano, Ryoichi
Yoshitake, Hidesuke
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