There has been ample discussion concerning the use of near infrared microscopy (NIR) in fields such as medical, materials science, and more recently in applications aimed toward micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS); however, little attention has been paid to the application of NIR microscopy in the verification and failure analysis of semiconductor memory devices. This paper will present a discussion of NIR and laser scanning confocal near-infrared microscopy, sample preparation for NIR microscopy, and emphasize examples of laser scanning confocal NIR microscopy in the measurement and failure analysis of silicon samples typical to the semiconductor industry.