A pattern according to an embodiment includes first and second line patterns, each of the first and second line patterns extends in a direction intersecting a <111> direction and has a side surface, the side surface has at least one {111} crystal plane, the side surface of the first line pattern has a first roughness, and the side surface of the second line pattern has a second roughness larger than the first roughness.

In the present invention, at the time of measuring, using a CD-SEM, a length of a resist that shrinks when irradiated with an electron beam, in order to highly accurately estimate a shape and dimensions of the resist before shrink, a shrink database with respect to various patterns is previously prepared, said shrink database containing cross-sectional shape data obtained prior to electron beam irradiation, a cross-sectional shape data group and a CD-SEM image data group, which are obtained under various electron beam irradiation conditions, and models based on such data and data groups, and a CD-SEM image of a resist pattern to be measured is obtained (S102), then, the CD-SEM image and data in the shrink database are compared with each other (S103), and the shape and dimensions of the pattern before the shrink are estimated and outputted (S104).

The objective of the present invention is to reduce differences between individual electron beam observation devices accurately by means of image correction. This method for calculating a correction factor for correcting images between a plurality of electron beam observation devices; in electron beam observation devices which generate images by scanning an electron beam across a specimen, is characterized by including: a step in which a first electron beam observation device generates a first image by scanning a first electron beam across first and second patterns, on either a specimen including the first pattern and the second pattern, having a different shape or size to the first pattern, or a first specimen including the first pattern and a second specimen including the second pattern; a step in which a second electron beam observation device generates a second image by scanning a second electron beam across the first and second patterns; and a step in which the first or second electron beam observation device calculates a correction factor at a peak frequency extracted selectively from first and second frequency characteristics calculated on the basis of the first and second images.

In the present invention, an electro-optical condition generation unit includes: a condition setting unit that sets, as a plurality of electro-optical conditions, a plurality of electro-optical conditions in which the combinations of the aperture angle and the focal-point height for an electron beam are different; an index calculating unit that determines a measurement-performance index in the electro-optical conditions set by the condition setting unit; and a condition deriving unit that derives an electro-optical condition, including an aperture angle and a focal-point height, so that the measurement-performance index determined by the index calculating unit becomes a prescribed value.

Provided is an electron beam observation device that includes: an electron source; an objective lens concentrating an electron beam emitted from the electron source; and a control unit configured to perform control such that a plurality of images is generated by capturing images of a reference sample having a specific pattern, and a frequency characteristic is calculated for each of the plurality of images, in which an image is generated based on a secondary signal generated from a sample due to irradiation of the sample with the electron beam, and the control unit holds the plurality of frequency characteristics.

The present invention addresses the problem of quickly specifying an optical condition of a wafer to be inspected, and in particular, accelerating optical condition setting after obtaining a customer wafer. An inspection apparatus automatic adjustment system according to the present invention comprises: an analysis condition setting interface 102 which inputs analysis conditions; an analysis execution unit 103 which performs analysis; an inspection device model and model DB 101 used for analysis; an analysis result DB 104 that stores analysis results; an observation condition setting interface 105 which inputs a wafer pattern, a focus point, an optimization index, and a priority; a wafer pattern search unit 106 which searches for a wafer pattern similar to the input wafer pattern; an optical condition extraction unit 107 which extracts, from the analysis result DB 104, the optimum optical condition for the similar wafer pattern and the focus point; and an optical condition setting unit 108 which generates a control signal corresponding to the optical condition and transmits the control signal to the inspection apparatus.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to optical devices having one or more metrology features and a method of optical device metrology that provides for metrology tool location recognition with negligible impact to optical performance of the optical devices. The optical device includes one or more target features. The target features described herein provide for metrology tool location recognition with negligible impact to optical performance of the optical devices. In metrology processes, the target features allow for metrology tools to determine one or more locations of the optical device having a macroscale surface area. The target features correspond to one or more structures merged together, one or more structures merged together surrounded by one or more structures that have been removed, or one or more structures that have been removed having one or more profiles defined by adjacent structures to the target features.

In the present invention, an electro-optical condition generation unit includes: a condition setting unit that sets, as a plurality of electro-optical conditions, a plurality of electro-optical conditions in which the combinations of the aperture angle and the focal-point height for an electron beam are different; an index calculating unit that determines a measurement-performance index in the electro-optical conditions set by the condition setting unit; and a condition deriving unit that derives an electro-optical condition, including an aperture angle and a focal-point height, so that the measurement-performance index determined by the index calculating unit becomes a prescribed value.

Provided is an electron beam observation device that includes: an electron source; an objective lens concentrating an electron beam emitted from the electron source; and a control unit configured to perform control such that a plurality of images is generated by capturing images of a reference sample having a specific pattern, and a frequency characteristic is calculated for each of the plurality of images, in which an image is generated based on a secondary signal generated from a sample due to irradiation of the sample with the electron beam, and the control unit holds the plurality of frequency characteristics.

A method for implementing a scanning electron microscopy characterisation technique for the determination of at least one critical dimension of the structure of a sample in the field of dimensional metrology, known as CD-SEM technique, includes producing an experimental image; from a first theoretical model based on parametric mathematical functions, calculating a second theoretical model U(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) describing the signal measured at the position P.sub.i at the instant t.sub.i, the second model U(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) being obtained by algebraic summation of a corrective term S(P.sub.i,t.sub.i); determining the set of parameters present in the second theoretical model; wherein the corrective term S(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) is calculated by summing the signal coming from the electric charges deposited by the primary electron beam at a plurality of instants t less than or equal to t.sub.i.