Patent ID: 7696487

Claim:
A circuit pattern inspection apparatus comprising: irradiation means for irradiating an irradiation beam of light, a laser beam or a charged particle beam to a surface of a substrate of a wafer on which a circuit pattern is formed; a control unit for setting a scanning direction of the irradiation beam and an inspection stripe position in a primary inspection; detection means for detecting a signal generated from the substrate by the irradiation beam; storage means for imaging the signal detected by the detection means to store the same; comparison means for comparing the stored image with an image formed from another equal circuit pattern; and determination means for determining stripes where a defect is present based on a result of the primary inspection, wherein the control unit controls a deflector and a stage in a secondary inspection such that the irradiation beam is scanned along a longitudinal direction of the determined stripe and then the determination means determines the defect position in said determined stripe from the result of the secondary inspection.