SAMPLE SHAPE MEASURING APPARATUS FOR CALCULATING A SHAPE OF A SAMPLE DISPOSED BETWEEN AN ILLUMINATION OPTICAL SYSTEM AND AN OBSERVATION OPTICAL SYSTEM

A sample shape measuring method includes a step of preparing illumination light passing through a predetermined illumination region, a step of applying the illumination light to a sample, and a predetermined processing step. The predetermined illumination region is set so as to include an optical axis at a pupil position of an illumination optical system. Light transmitted through the sample is incident on the observation optical system. The predetermined processing step includes a step of receiving light emerged from the observation optical system, a step of obtaining a quantity of light of the received light, a step of calculating a difference or a ratio between the quantity of light and a reference quantity of light, and a step of calculating an amount of tilt in a surface of the sample from the difference or the ratio.