Patent ID: 7583832

Claim:
A method for classifying defects with a classification system including a computer and imaging apparatus, the method comprising steps of: obtaining with the imaging apparatus a defect image of a defect present in a sample; calculating with the computer feature amounts of said defect from said defect image; classifying said defect image with the computer into one of a plurality of classes based on said feature amounts and specified classification criteria to obtain a classification result of said defect image; and displaying said classification result of said defect image, wherein said specified classification criteria are specified by the following steps: selecting a set of classification criteria from a plurality of classification criteria displayed at the classification system, the set of classification criteria being associated with a predetermined classifying rule stored at the computer, modifying a class arrangement of the classification system based on input from a user by performing at least one of deleting, dividing or integrating the selected set of classification criteria with respect to the class arrangement, and adapting the classifying rule automatically in response to the modified class arrangement so as to avoid an empty area in a feature space of the classification system corresponding to the classifying rule.