Patent ID: 7124379

Claim:
A method for transmitting at least one measuring position of a structural element for measuring a characteristic dimension in a microscope, which element is about to be formed on a mask for lithographic projection, which comprises: defining, in a first user unit, a circuit layout containing the structural element that is to be formed; transferring the circuit layout into a file with a format in which the structural element that is to be formed is represented by first data information including an allocation of a position to a geometric shape; generating second data information in the circuit layout transferred into the file; allocating a second geometric shape to the at least one measuring position in the second data information to prevent the second geometric shape from bringing about the formation of an exposed structure on the mask in the event of an exposure; transmitting to a second user unit the circuit layout transferred into the file and containing the second data information; reading, in the second user unit, the at least one measuring position of the second data information in the circuit layout transmitted with the file; forming a control instruction for an exposure apparatus from the circuit layout; exposing the mask with a structure pattern; and finding the structural element on the mask at the at least one measuring position in a measuring device and measuring the characteristic dimension of the structural element by transmitting the mask and the at least one measuring position to a third user unit.