Patent ID: 6087673
Filing Date: 2000-07-11
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method of inspecting a pattern, in which a defect or a candidate for a defect is inspected by comparinga first two-dimensional image, for each pixel of which detected as a gradation value is a sampling value of a physical quantity at each point on an object to be inspected, witha second two-dimensional image as an object to be compared with the first two-dimensional image, for each pixel of which represented as a gradation value is the sampling value,comprising the steps of:a first process of determining a distance or a difference in the gradation value between said first two-dimensional image and said second two-dimensional image;a second process of determining an allowable range of a distance or a difference for each pixel or for a plurality of pixels using a position shift quantity between said first two-dimensional image and said second two-dimensional image; anda third process of judging, for each pixel or for the plurality of pixels, whether or not the distance or the difference determined in said first process falls within the allowable range determined in said second process.