Measurement method, transfer characteristic measurement method, adjustment method of exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

A transfer characteristic measurement method in which a transfer characteristic related to two different directions of an exposure apparatus that transfers a pattern formed on a mask onto an object is measured, the method comprising:

• a transfer process in which a mark containing a first element and a second element used to measure the transfer characteristic in the two directions is formed using the exposure apparatus;
• an image import process in which the object is set to a reference direction within a measurement unit and a first image, which is at least a part of the mark containing one of the first element and the second element, is imported along with a second image, which is at least a part of the mark containing the other element of the first element and the second element whose rotational angle substantially differs from when the first image is imported by an angle α (0<α<180°) substantially the same as an intersecting angle of the two directions;
• and
• a measurement process in which the first image and the second image are processed and a first size and a second size related to the two directions of the mark are respectively measured.

A transfer characteristic measurement method in which a pattern transfer characteristic of an exposure apparatus that transfers a pattern formed on a mask onto an object is measured, the method comprising:

• a first transfer process in which a measurement mask that has a pattern area where at least one predetermined measurement mark is formed is loaded into the exposure apparatus and exposure is performed to transfer the pattern area onto the object;
• a second transfer process in which the pattern area is transferred onto the object in a state where at least one of the measurement mask and the object is rotated so that an angle of the object with respect to the measurement mask is altered at a predetermined angle α (0<α<180°) from the first transfer process;
• an image import process in which an image of a first transferred image of the measurement mark formed on the object in the first transfer process and an image of a second transferred image of the measurement mark formed on the object in the second transfer process are imported by the measurement unit in a state where the object is set to a reference direction;
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• a measurement process in which an image processing accompanied by an edge detection processing is applied to the image of the first transferred image and the image of the second transferred image that have been imported, and at least a size is measured related to a measurement direction orthogonal to a direction corresponding to the reference direction of each of the first transferred image of the measurement mark and the second transferred image of the measurement mark.