Methods and systems for binning defects detected on a specimen

A computer-implemented method for binning defects detected on a specimen, comprising:

• comparing a first test image to a second test image, wherein the first test image comprises an image of one or more patterned features formed on the specimen proximate to a first defect detected on the specimen, and wherein the second test image comprises an image of one or more patterned features formed on the specimen proximate to a second defect detected on the specimen;
• and
• if the one or more patterned features in the first and second test images match, assigning the first and second defects to the same bin.

A carrier medium, comprising program instructions executable on a computer system for performing a method for binning defects detected on a specimen, wherein the method comprises:

• comparing a test image to reference images, wherein the test image comprises an image of one or more patterned features formed on the specimen proximate to a defect detected on the specimen, and wherein the reference images comprise images of one or more patterned features associated with different regions of interest within a device being formed on the specimen;
• and
• if the one or more patterned features of the test image match the one or more patterned features of one of the reference images, assigning the defect to a bin corresponding to the region of interest associated with the one of the reference images.