Patent ID: 7515258

Claim:
A method for inspecting an appearance of a semiconductor device comprising the steps of: radiating inspecting light with a wavelength of 4 to 400 nm to the semiconductor device, including a first wiring layer having a first wiring, a second wiring layer having a second wiring formed over the first wiring layer, and a first insulating layer interposed between the first and second wiring layers, wherein the second wiring layer or an upper layer thereof has a fine projection, and the diameter of a circle circumscribing the projection in a plane or sectional view is 40 nm or less, to cause Rayleigh scattering on the fine projection while causing the inspecting light to be reflected on the surface of the second wiring layer; receiving light reflected on the surface of the second wiring layer by means of an image pickup element; and making an appearance inspection of the second wiring layer on the basis of data obtained from the received light.