Inspection method and inspection apparatus

Abstract

The inspection conditions of a known inspection apparatus necessary for inspection are such that wafers are individually prepared for respective layer types and layer thicknesses, and standard particles having different sizes are applied to all of the wafers. Moreover, the wafers to which standard particles have been applied and which have been prepared for the respective layer types and layer thicknesses are inspected by the inspection apparatus to determine the optimal inspection conditions for the respective layer types and layer thicknesses. Therefore, there are problems that it requires long time and involves high cost to determine the inspection conditions. In the invention, the relation between the layer thickness and the scattering intensity in the inspection apparatus is calculated. The scattering intensity is divided into a plurality of intensity regions, and the inspection conditions optimized for the respective divided regions are determined. The inspection conditions are shared in each divided intensity region, whereby the time and cost necessary to determine the inspection conditions can be dramatically reduced.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.