Patent ID: 8888283

Claim:
An aberration correction method, comprising: a first aberration measuring step of measuring an aberration of a first polarized component of reflected light obtained by irradiating an object to be inspected with measuring light; a first aberration correcting step of correcting the aberration of the first polarized component by controlling a first aberration correction unit in accordance with a measured value of the aberration of the first polarized component, wherein the aberration of the first polarized component is corrected by the controlled first aberration correction unit; and a second aberration correcting step of correcting, in a case where a value of the aberration corrected in the first aberration correcting step is smaller than a predetermined value, an aberration of a second polarized component of the reflected light, which is different from the first polarized component, by controlling a second aberration correction unit based on a control for the first aberration correction unit in the case where the value of the aberration corrected in the first aberration correcting step is smaller than the predetermined value, wherein the aberration of the second polarized component is corrected by the controlled second aberration correction unit, wherein the second aberration correction unit is different from the first aberration correction unit.