EXTERIOR VIEW EXAMINATION APPARATUS

An exterior view examination apparatus comprising a movable sample stage provided in a sample chamber of a scanning type electron microscope; a sample mounted on the stage; and an optical microscope which can observe the sample from an exterior of the chamber, mounted on the chamber in parallel with the scanning type electron microscope, the position of a surface part of the sample (mounted on the sample stage) to be observed, measured or analyzed being preliminary defined by the optical microscope, and the sample stage being moved by a certain amount thereby to bring the sample at the center of the visual field of the electron microscope.