Disclosed embodiments are generally related to semiconductor device inspection. One such embodiment involves positioning a detector at a distance from a surface of the semiconductor device being inspected and applying an energy to the semiconductor device. In the disclosed embodiment, the detector receives back-scattered energy resulting from applying the energy to the semiconductor device and the resultant back-scattered energy is processed and analyzed to determine whether defects are beneath the surface of the semiconductor device. The magnitude of the applied energy and the distance between the detector and the surface of the semiconductor device are selected so as to allow back-scattered electrons returned from applying to be effectively received by the detector.