Pattern inspection apparatus and method and workpiece tested thereby

Abstract

A pattern inspection apparatus capable of finding temporary emphatic portions in the process of transfer-and-development simulation of the image of a workpiece being tested is disclosed. This apparatus includes a first storage unit for retaining therein the pattern of an image captured from a workpiece under testing, a simulator for applying transfer/development simulation to the captured image pattern, and a second storage unit for storing the pattern of an image which is being presently simulated during the transfer/development simulation of the originally captured image pattern. A comparison processor handles as a pattern to be tested a pattern of the presently simulated or “midstream” image of the captured image while using a pattern to be compared as a fiducial pattern and compares the to-be-tested image to the fiducial pattern. A pattern inspection method is also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.