Multimode Defect Classification in Semiconductor Inspection

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a semiconductor-inspection system that includes a semiconductor-inspection tool, the one or more programs including instructions for:

• causing the semiconductor-inspection tool to scan a semiconductor die using a plurality of optical modes;
• identifying a plurality of defects on the semiconductor die based on results of the scanning, wherein:
• respective defects of the plurality of defects correspond to respective pixel sets of the semiconductor-inspection tool,
• the scanning fails to resolve the respective defects, and
• the results include multi-dimensional data based on pixel intensity for the respective pixel sets, wherein each dimension of the multi-dimensional data corresponds to a distinct mode of the plurality of optical modes;
• for the respective pixel sets, applying a discriminant function to the results to transform the multi-dimensional data into respective scores;
• and
• based at least in part on the respective scores, dividing the respective defects into distinct classes.