A method for detecting phase features or phase defects on photomasks for optical
lithography is described. The asymmetric imaging behavior through focus of defects or features with a phase other than 0° or 180° is used to distinguish them from other features on the
mask. The
mask is inspected at equally spaced positions about an optimum focus in both positive and negative directions. The images are subtracted from one another to produce a differential image of the
mask. While opaque features as well as transmitting features at 0° and 180° behave identically at positive and negative defocus, thus leading to a zero-valued differential image, the focus
asymmetry of phase defects and features produces a non-zero differential image from which these phase defects and features can be located. By comparing the locations on the mask for which a non-zero differential image is obtained with the designed data for the mask, the phase defects can be sorted from the phase features and the absence of phase features can be detected. Additional
image processing can be applied to verify the integrity of the phase features. The differential
image inspection technique can be implemented on existing optical inspection tools by employing a two-pass inspection performed at positive and negative defocus in sequence. In addition, a new apparatus with parallel inspection
optics is described for inspecting the mask at positive and negative focus simultaneously.