MASK PATTERN APPEARANCE INSPECTION METHOD, PROGRAM THEREFOR, AND MASK PATTERN APPEARANCE INSPECTION APPARATUS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly and highly accurately inspect an appearance of a pattern based upon a comparative measurement with a pattern form optimal for a production process of a user by utilizing a pattern image of a reference mask whose pattern form is confirmed in advance when inspecting the appearance of a mask pattern.;SOLUTION: A pattern is extracted by performing registration p1 of a pattern image with respect to a critical portion of the reference mask and registration p2 of a pattern in a critical portion of design data and applying extraction p4 of the critical pattern portion to a pattern image acquired by acquisition p3 of the pattern image of an inspection target mask. Next, contour extraction p5 is applied to the extracted pattern to acquire a pattern contour line, comparative measurement p6 is performed from data of the contour line to quantitatively measure a form difference of the pattern, and an acceptance/rejection decision p7 is performed to inspect the pattern appearance of the inspection target mask.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO