Patent ID: 6980010

Claim:
A method for inspecting wire breaking of a semiconductor integrated circuit in a non-contact manner, comprising the steps of: maintaining a semiconductor integrated circuit in a state where a predetermined voltage is being applied thereto; two-dimensionally scanning and irradiating a two-dimensional circuit of the semiconductor integrated circuit by using an ultrashort light pulse, wherein the ultrashort light pulse has a wavelength equal to or larger than 300 nanometers and equal to or smaller than 2 microns time average energy equal to or larger than 0.1 mW and equal to or smaller than 10 W, and a pulse width equal to or larger than 1 femtosecond and equal to or smaller than 10 picoseconds; detecting an electromagnetic wave radiated from a position irradiated with the ultrashort light pulse on the semiconductor integrated circuit; and detecting wire breaking of the irradiated position based on presence and absence or intensity of the electromagnetic wave.