Defect candidate generation for inspection

A computer-implemented method for detecting defect candidates on a specimen, comprising:

• after scanning of at least a majority of a specimen is completed, applying one or more segmentation methods to at least a substantial portion of output generated during the scanning thereby generating two or more segments of the output, wherein the scanning is performed by an inspection subsystem that scans energy over the specimen, detects energy from the specimen during the scanning, and generates the output responsive to the detected energy;
• separately detecting outliers in the two or more segments of the output;
• and
• detecting defect candidates on the specimen by applying one or more predetermined criteria to results of said separately detecting to thereby designate a portion of the detected outliers as the defect candidates, wherein said applying, said separately detecting, and said detecting are performed by a computer subsystem coupled to the inspection subsystem.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing program instructions executable on a computer system for performing a computer-implemented method for detecting defect candidates on a specimen, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:

• after scanning of at least a majority of a specimen is completed, applying one or more segmentation methods to at least a substantial portion of output generated during the scanning thereby generating two or more segments of the output, wherein the scanning is performed by an inspection subsystem that scans energy over the specimen, detects energy from the specimen during the scanning, and generates the output responsive to the detected energy;
• separately detecting outliers in the two or more segments of the output;
• and
• detecting defect candidates on the specimen by applying one or more predetermined criteria to results of said separately detecting to thereby designate a portion of the detected outliers as the defect candidates, wherein said applying, said separately detecting, and said detecting are performed by the computer system coupled to the inspection subsystem.