Patent ID: 7359044
Filing Date: 2008-04-15
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for inspecting defects of a pattern, comprising: illumination means for illuminating a sample on whose surface a pattern was formed; imaging optical system means for forming an optical image of the pattern of the sample illuminated by the illumination means; detecting means for detecting an optical image of the pattern of the sample by detecting the optical image formed by the imaging optical system means; defect detecting means for detecting pattern defects on the sample by processing the detected image by the detecting means; and selecting means for selecting a combination of an illumination wavelength of the illumination means and an aperture diaphragm of the illumination means and/or the imaging optical system according to the pattern, wherein, prior to detecting pattern defects, said defect detecting means processes the images detected by the detecting means to reduce noise, and reconstructs noise reduced images that have been degraded by the noise reduction process.