Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Kaoru Kikuchi

Junji Hazama

Norio Fujii

Toru Azuma

Kazunari Hada

An apparatus for inspecting a pattern consisting of light and dark areas formed on a planar test specimen according to design information, comprising: an imaging device for viewing the pattern to generate image information; a detector for generating a first signal upon detection that, in response to the image information, a boundary line between the light and dark areas of the pattern is bent in a determined stepping form in the direction of the plane; a memory for generating and storing a second signal, upon detection that the boundary line of the pattern has a bend of stepping form according to the design information, corresponding to the position in the imaging area of the bend in the design information; and an inspecting device for discriminating, upon generation of the first signal, the presence or absence of the second signal in the memory corresponding to the position of the first signal in the image area.

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Yokohama, Japan

Kaoru Kikuchi