LIGHT-TRANSMITTING OBJECT EXAMINING METHOD

摘要

A light-transmitting object examining method enables an accurate examination whether optical nonuniformity is present or not inside a light-transmitting object. The light-transmitting object examining method examines whether nonuniformity (specifically an internal defect (16)) causing an optical characteristic to an exposure light to change locally or at local portion is present or not inside a light-transmitting object (4) that is made of a light-transmitting material and used for photolithography. An examining light having a wavelength of less than 200 nm is made to enter the light-transmitting object and a light (15) having a wavelength longer than that of the examining light and emitted locally or at a local portion is sensed in an optical path along which the examining light propagates inside the light-transmitting object, thus presence/absence of an optical nonuniformity of a light-transmitting object is examined.