Yield is a measure of the success of a semiconductor device processing sequence in producing quality finished chips or wafers which are acceptable for their intended uses. It is known that yield is adversely effected by the occurrences of certain defects which can be introduced at various stages of the device processing sequence. Clearly, it is advantageous to detect such occurrences at the earliest possible time so that costly but futile additional processing steps normally required to complete the devices are not undertaken. More particularly, it has been found that the defect count is a reliable predictor of yield of devices which are later formed in the semiconductor material provided that the count is limited to those defects which are electrically active, i.e., current carrying defects or leakage paths which can result in shorted junctions or emitter-to-collector shorts, for example. Defects which are not electrically active are inconsequential to the performance of later formed devices and, therefore, are not to be included in the defect count.