Apparatus and method for inspecting pattern on object

摘要

In a pattern inspection apparatus ( 1 ), an electron beam emission part ( 31 ) emits an electron beam onto a substrate ( 9 ) and an image acquisition part ( 33 ) detects electrons from the substrate ( 9 ) to acquire a grayscale inspection image of the substrate ( 9 ). A binary reference image generated from design data ( 81 ) is multivalued by a grayscale image generator ( 52 ) on the basis of a histogram of pixel values in the inspection image to generate a grayscale reference image. A comparator ( 53 ) compares the inspection image with the reference image. The pattern inspection apparatus ( 1 ) can thereby perform an inspection of a very small pattern on the substrate ( 9 ) on the basis of the design data ( 81 ).