Inspection method and inspection apparatus

An inspection apparatus, comprising:

• a stage which mounts an object under inspection and moves said object in a three-dimensional direction;
• an illumination optical system which illuminates light to said object;
• a detection optical system which detects light reflected from said object and converts the detected light into an image signal;
• a spatial filter which is provided in said detection optical system and prints so as to shield a Fourier transformed image generated from a circuit pattern existing on the object;
• an arithmetic processing system which processes the image signal detected by said detection optical system;
• and
• a monitor which observes foreign matters/defects based on a signal processed by said arithmetic processing system;
• wherein said detection optical system comprises a Fourier transform lens which Fourier transforms diffracted light coming from said circuit pattern of said object, and an inverse Fourier transform lens which inverse Fourier transforms light coming through said spatial filter.

An inspection method, comprising the steps of:

• illuminating light on an object under inspection;
• detecting light reflected from said object and converting the detected light into an image signal by a detection optical system;
• selectively shielding diffracted light coming from a circuit pattern existed on the object in the detection optical system;
• arithmetically processing the image signal detected by said detection optical system;
• and
• observing foreign matters/defects based on a signal derived from said arithmetic processing by a monitor.