Emission microscope

A device for magnifying and displaying output images of light emitted from semiconductor devices as a result of electrical stimulation, said device comprising:

• optical means for viewing said semiconductor device, said optical means comprising a first objective lens for identifying said emitted light and a second lens for reducing the magnification of said first lens, said optical means outputting an optical image;
• intensifier means coupled to said optical means for intensifying said optical image and outputting an intensified image;
• camera means coupled to said intensifier means for converting said intensified image to a video image signal;
• processing means coupled to said camera means for removing noise from said video image signal and enhancing said video image signal, said processing means outputting an enhanced image signal;
• display means coupled to said processing means for displaying said output image generated from said enhanced image signal.

A method for displaying light emitted from integrated circuits as a result of the electroluminesent effects of silicon, said method comprising the steps of:

• passing said emitted light through an optical system, said optical system comprising first and second lenses, said second lens for reducing the magnification of said first lens;
• passing the output of said optical system through an image intensifier, said image intensifier comprising a plurality of photomultiplier microchannels, said microchannels outputting plurality of electrons for each input electron;
• converting said output of said image intensifier to a video image signal through use of a camera comprising a plurality of charge sensitive devices;
• coupling said video image signal to a processing means, said processing means integrating a plurality of said video image signals, subtracting out background noise, and superimposing said integrated video image signals on a background image of said integrated circuit to produce a composite image;
• displaying said composite image on a TV monitor coupled to said processing means.