Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern, which is formed on a substrate, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), comprising the steps of:(a) inputting a center coordinate of an SEM image area including a circuit pattern having a dimension to be measured out of the circuit pattern formed on the substrate, and design information of the circuit pattern including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, and formed on the substrate;(b) setting a measurement object area including an edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area and the design information input, and setting an imaging area and imaging condition for imaging an area including the measurement object area with the scanning electron microscope;(c) setting an imaging sequence for imaging the imaging area with the scanning electron microscope for measuring the dimension of the circuit pattern;(d) imaging the circuit pattern formed on the substrate with the scanning electron microscope based on the imaging condition and the imaging sequence; and(e) processing the image obtained by imaging to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern,wherein, step (b) includes the steps of setting, as the measurement object area, an area including the edge of the circuit pattern in the vicinity of the position at which the dimension of the circuit pattern is measured, and setting in accordance with a direction of the edge of the circuit pattern included in the area, a direction of continuous scanning of an electron beam scanned in the scanning electron microscope. 2. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 1,wherein, step (b) includes the steps of setting a type of the dimension to be measured using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area and the design information, and setting the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured. 3. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 1,wherein, in step (e), the image obtained by imaging is processed to measure any one of a line width of a line pattern, a dimension of a gap between the line patterns, an amount of recession of end of the line pattern, a diameter of a contact hole in the circuit pattern, and an OPC shape of the circuit pattern. 4. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 1,wherein, step (a) includes the steps of inputting a candidate defect for designating a candidate of a possible pattern formation defect in the SEM imaging area, setting a type of the dimension to be measured using the candidate defect, the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area, and the design information, and setting the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured. 5. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 1,wherein step (b) includes one of the steps of changing the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area input using the measurement object area and the direction of continuous scanning of the electron beam, and merging a plurality of the imaging areas to newly set a single imaging area using the measurement object area and the direction of continuous scanning of the electron beam. 6. A method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern, which is formed on a substrate, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), comprising the steps of:(a) inputting a center coordinate of an SEM image area including a circuit pattern having a dimension to be measured out of the circuit pattern formed on the substrate, and design information of the circuit pattern including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, and formed on the substrate;(b) setting a measurement object area including an edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area and the design information input, and setting an imaging area and imaging condition for imaging an area including the measurement object area with the scanning electron microscope;(c) imaging the circuit pattern formed on the substrate with the scanning electron microscope based on the imaging condition; and(d) processing the image obtained by imaging to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern using information of the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured included in the imaging area,wherein, step (b) includes the steps of setting a type of the dimension to be measured using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured and the design information, and setting the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured. 7. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein, step (b) includes the steps of setting, as an area including a position at which the dimension of the circuit pattern is measured, an area including the edge of the circuit pattern in the vicinity of the position at which the dimension of the circuit pattern is measured, and setting in accordance with a direction of the edge of the circuit pattern included in the area, a direction of continuous scanning of an electron beam scanned in the scanning electron microscope. 8. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein step (d) includes the steps of correcting, based on the image obtained by imaging, a position of the measurement object area, which includes the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured and is set using the design information, and measuring a shape of the circuit pattern using position information of the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured included in the measurement object area corrected. 9. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein, in step (d), the image obtained by imaging is processed to measure any one of a line width of a line pattern, a dimension of a gap between the line patterns, an amount of recession of end of the line pattern, a diameter of a contact hole in the circuit pattern, and an OPC shape of the circuit pattern. 10. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein, step (a) includes the steps of inputting a candidate defect for designating a candidate of a possible pattern formation defect in the SEM imaging area, setting a type of the dimension to be measured using the candidate defect, the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area, and the design information, and setting the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured. 11. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein step (b) includes one of the steps of changing the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area input using the measurement object area and the direction of continuous scanning of the electron beam, and merging a plurality of the imaging areas to newly set a single imaging area using the measurement object area and the direction of continuous scanning of the electron beam. 12. The method of measuring a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 6,wherein, in step (b), a rule for setting the type of the dimension to be measured using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured and the design information is determined by at least one of a combination teaching of the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area, the design information, and the type of the dimension to be measured, and a combination teaching of the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area, the design information, and the measurement object area. 13. An apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern formed on a substrate using a scanning electron microscope, comprising:input means for inputting a center coordinate of an SEM image area including a circuit pattern having a dimension to be measured out of the circuit pattern formed on the substrate, and design information of the circuit pattern including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, and formed on the substrate;imaging condition setting means including a measurement object area setting section adapted to set a measurement object area including an edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area and the design information input, and an area/condition setting section adapted to set an imaging area and imaging condition for imaging an area including the measurement object area with the scanning electron microscope;imaging sequence setting means for setting an imaging sequence for imaging the imaging area, which is set by the imaging condition setting means for measuring the dimension of the circuit pattern, with the scanning electron microscope;scanning electron microscope means for imaging the circuit pattern formed on the substrate based on the imaging condition set by the imaging condition setting means and the imaging sequence set by the imaging sequence setting means; andimage processing means for processing the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern,wherein, the measurement object area setting section of the imaging condition setting means sets, as an area including a position at which the dimension of the circuit pattern is measured, an area including the edge of the circuit pattern in the vicinity of the position at which the dimension of the circuit pattern is measured, and the imaging condition means further includes a scanning direction setting section adapted to set a direction of continuous scanning of an electron beam scanned in the scanning electron microscope in accordance with a direction of the edge of the circuit pattern included in the area set by the measurement object area setting section. 14. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 13,wherein the imaging condition setting means further includes a dimension measurement type setting section adapted to set a type of the dimension to be measured using position information of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured and the design information, and sets the area including the edge of the circuit pattern as the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured set by the dimension measurement type setting section in the measurement object area setting section. 15. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 13,wherein the image processing means includes a measurement object area correction section adapted to correct a position of the measurement object area, which is set by the measurement object area setting section of the imaging condition setting means using the design information, based on the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means, and a dimension measurement section adapted to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern using the position information of the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured included in the measurement object area corrected by the measurement object area correction section. 16. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 15,wherein, the dimension measurement section of the image processing means processes the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means to measure any one of a line width of a line pattern, a dimension of a gap between the line patterns, an amount of recession of end of the line pattern, a diameter of a contact hole in the circuit pattern, and an OPC shape of the circuit pattern. 17. An apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern formed on a substrate using a scanning electron microscope, comprising:input means for inputting a center coordinate of an SEM image area including a circuit pattern having a dimension to be measured out of the circuit pattern formed on the substrate, and design information of the circuit pattern including the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, and formed on the substrate;imaging condition setting means including a measurement object area setting section adapted to set a measurement object area including an edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured, using the center coordinate of the SEM imaging area and the design information input, and an area/condition setting section adapted to set an imaging area and imaging condition for imaging an area including the measurement object area with the scanning electron microscope;scanning electron microscope means for imaging the circuit pattern formed on the substrate, based on the imaging condition set by the imaging condition setting means; andimage processing means for processing the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern using information of the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured,wherein the imaging condition setting means further includes a dimension measurement type setting section adapted to set a type of the dimension to be measured using position information of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured and the design information input by the input means, and sets the area including the edge of the circuit pattern as the measurement object area in accordance with the type of the dimension to be measured set by the dimension measurement type setting section in the measurement object area setting section. 18. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 17,wherein the area/condition setting section of the imaging condition setting means sets a direction of continuous scanning of an electron beam scanned in the scanning electron microscope in accordance with a direction of the edge of the circuit pattern included in the measurement object area set by the measurement object area setting section. 19. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 17,wherein the image processing means includes a measurement object area correction section adapted to correct a position of the measurement object area, which is set by the measurement object area setting section of the imaging condition setting means using the design information, based on the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means, and a dimension measurement section adapted to measure the dimension of the circuit pattern using the position information of the edge of the circuit pattern having the dimension to be measured included in the measurement object area corrected by the measurement object area correction section. 20. The apparatus adapted to measure a dimension of a circuit pattern according to claim 19,wherein, the dimension measurement section of the image processing means processes the image obtained by imaging with the scanning electron microscope means to measure any one of a line width of a line pattern, a dimension of a gap between the line patterns, an amount of recession of end of the line pattern, a diameter of a contact hole in the circuit pattern, and an OPC shape of the circuit pattern.