Patent ID: 8160349

Claim:
A pattern shape evaluation method comprising: detecting an edge of an evaluation target pattern from an image of the evaluation target pattern to output the edge as a first edge, the evaluation target pattern being formed in a first layer of a device comprising a structure with a plurality of layers; detecting an edge of a reference pattern from an image of the reference pattern to output the edge as a second edge, the reference pattern being formed in a second layer of the device, the second layer being different from the first layer; superposing the first edge onto the second edge to output a resulting edge as a third edge; calculating a characteristic amount of the third edge; positioning the first edge and second edge at a plurality of relative positions and performing a relative scan of the first edge and the second edge at each relative position to derive a characteristic amount function, wherein the characteristic amount function specifies characteristic amounts at respective relative positions; and comparing the characteristic amount function with a preset value to judge whether or not the evaluation target pattern is good.