Patent ID: 8731275

Claim:
A method for reviewing defects, comprising the steps of: obtaining coordinate information about review target defects that are extracted from defects detected beforehand when a sample having a surface on which a pattern is formed is inspected with an inspection apparatus, and cutting out design information about a peripheral region around the review target defects and design information about a review target defect region substantially centered around the coordinates of the review target defects from design information about the pattern by using the obtained coordinate information; and reviewing the review target defects in the sample, which are detected as defect coordinates by the inspection apparatus, by using a defect review apparatus; wherein the step of cutting out the design information about the review target defect region further includes the steps of: as a cut-out step, cutting out the design information about a defect region substantially centered around defect coordinates of each of the review target defects, which is obtained from the coordinate information about the review target detects, from design information about the sample; as a setup step, selecting and setting up a defect detection method for each of the review target defects in accordance with the cut-out design information about the defect region of each of the review target defects; and as a processing recipe setup step, setting up, in accordance with the defect coordinates of each of the review target defects and the selected defect detection method for each of the review target defects, a processing recipe that describes an execution sequence concerning the combination of an imaging process, a defect detection process based on a defect detection method, and a setup process for the defect detection method as well as parameters for each of the processes; and wherein the step of conducting a review with the defect review apparatus further includes the steps of: as an image acquisition step, acquiring a defect image by imaging at least a defect region of each of the review target defects in accordance with the execution sequence described in the processing recipe in combination with the defect detection process, which is set up in the processing recipe setup step; and as a review step, detecting and reviewing a defect by performing a defect detection process on each of the review target defects by using the defect detection method that is selected in accordance with the processing recipe, which is set up in the step of setting up a processing recipe on the basis of the defect image acquired in the image acquisition step.