Patent ID: 6956778

Claim:
A method for recovering a semiconductor device comprising: carrying out a first test with respect to prime memory cells included in a prime memory cell array to detect a first defective memory cell; substituting a first redundant memory cell included in a first redundant memory cell group of a redundant memory cell array for the first defective memory cell detected in the first test; carrying out a second test with respect to all prime memory cells included in the prime memory cell array except the first defective memory cell and the first redundant memory cell substituted for the first defective memory cell to detect a second defective memory cell; substituting a second redundant memory cell included in a second redundant memory cell group of the redundant memory cell array for the second defective memory cell detected in the second test; and inhibiting access to the first defective memory cell and the first redundant memory cell, when the second defective memory cell is the first redundant memory cell substituted for the first defective memory cell.