Pattern matching apparatus and computer program

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor inspection apparatus capable of well carrying out position alignment and correctly determining whether the position alignment has been carried out successfully or has ended in a failure without operator interventions even if an inspected image is an image having few characteristics as is the case with a repetitive pattern or the inspected image is an image having a complicated shape. The semiconductor inspection apparatus includes means for imaging a shape on a wafer or on an exposure mask; means for storing an image inspected by the imaging means; means for storing design data of the semiconductor circuit corresponding to a position on the wafer or on the exposure mask which are to be imaged by the imaging means; means for storing a design-data image obtained as a result of converting the design data into an image; means for generating a design-data ROI image by converting an interest drawing region found from a relative crude-density relation of a shape included in the design-data image into an image; and a position alignment section configured to carry out position alignment on the inspected image and the design-data image. The semiconductor inspection apparatus makes use of the design-data ROI image in order to identify a position at which the inspected image and the design-data image match each other or compute the degree of coincidence.