Patent ID: 8253934

Claim:
A pattern inspection apparatus, comprising: a light source which emits a deep ultraviolet light or an ultraviolet light; an irradiator which irradiates the deep ultraviolet light or the ultraviolet light onto a specimen on which a pattern is formed, along a vertical direction through an objective; an imager which forms an image of the specimen with light reflected from the specimen and passed through the objective, where said specimen is irradiated with the deep ultraviolet light or the ultraviolet light and which imager detects the image formed on a rear surface of a rear-surface irradiation type image sensor which includes a glass cover disposed on a rear-surface side of the rear-surface irradiation type image sensor and a gate structure disposed on an opposite side to the rear-surface side, the rear-surface irradiation type image sensor being set at an angle inclined to a surface of the specimen; and an image processor which processes a signal outputted from the rear-surface irradiation type image sensor to detect a defect of the specimen.