Patent ID: 8923600

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining a defect criticality index for a defect detected on a wafer, comprising: detecting the defect using an optical inspection system or an electron beam inspection system; determining a probability that the defect will alter one or more electrical attributes of a device being fabricated on the wafer by using one or more attributes of design data, for the device, proximate the position of the defect in design data space and one or more attributes of the defect as input to a model or function, wherein output of the model or function is a change in the one or more electrical attributes of the device caused by the defect; determining the defect criticality index for the defect based on the probability that the defect will alter the one or more electrical attributes, wherein determining the defect criticality index comprises determining a value for the defect criticality index; and storing the defect criticality index in a storage medium, wherein determining the probability, determining the defect criticality index, and storing the defect criticality index are performed using a computer system and prior to electrical testing of the wafer.