Pattern Inspection Method And Apparatus

An apparatus for processing a defect candidate image, comprising:

• a scanning electron microscope for taking a SEM image of a sample;
• an image processor for processing the SEM image of the sample taken by the scanning electron microscope, detecting defect candidates by comparing the SEM image with a reference image, calculating feature amount of the detected defect candidate and classifying the detected defect candidates into one of the plural defect classes by the calculated feature amount;
• an image storing unit which stores an image of the detected defect candidate with a location information, the calculated feature amount and classified information;
• and
• a display unit which displays a distribution of the detected and classified defect candidates in a map format by distinguishing the classified class of the defect candidates,
• wherein said display unit further displays a SEM image of a defect candidate together with the map and the map image is an image of a defect candidate which is designated on the map by a indicator displayed on the display unit.

A method for processing a defect candidate image, comprising the steps of:

• taking an image of a specimen by using a scanning electron microscope;
• processing the image taken by the scanning electron microscope and detecting defect candidates on the specimen and classifying the detected defect candidates into one of plural classes;
• storing images of the defect candidates together with the classification information in a memory;
• and
• displaying a distribution of the detected and classified defect candidates in a map format together with an image of a defect candidate stored in the memory which is indicated on the map,
• wherein in the step of displaying, the defect candidates displayed in the map format are distinguishable by the class and an image of a defect candidate stored in the memory and indicated on the map is also displayed together with the map.