The Gunners missed several good chances before they took the lead on the stroke of half-time through an own goal from Latics skipper Antolin Alcaraz.
Wigan lost Victor Moses to a suspected broken wrist and Nicklas Bendtner's close-range effort on 67 minutes kept Arsene Wenger's men on the road to Wembley.
Earlier, Bendtner - recalled to the starting XI alongside Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott - missed a great chance to take an early lead when Bendtner failed to connect with his free header at the far post from Van Persie's deep free-kick.
Wigan tried to knock the ball around crispy as Moses darted down the left and cut back inside to the Arsenal penalty area before drilling a low shot into the side netting.
Emmanuel Eboue's careless backpass from the halfway line allowed Mauro Boselli to scamper clear, but fortunately for the Arsenal defender the Argentina forward was pushed wide and eventually the attack broke down.
Carlo Vela's angled drive was deflected out for a corner which Laurent Koscielny flicked over as Arsenal upped the tempo.
The Mexican was put through again on 26 minutes, this time by Van Persie's clever backheel, but as the keeper committed himself, Vela's chip curled just wide of the empty net.
Wigan defender Steve Gohouri showed great composure to chest the ball back to his keeper after it was lofted through the six-yard box.
However, when Maynor Figueroa bodychecked Walcott, referee Martin Atkinson immediately reach for his back pocket.
There was then a brief stoppage as Moses received treatment from an awkward fall in the build-up to Arsenal's counter-attack, landing on his wrist.
The England youth international was carried off on a stretcher, replaced by Charles N'Zogbia.
Arsenal appealed for handball against Figueroa as Van Persie looked to collect a chip into the Wigan box, but neither the referee nor his assistant were interested, which replays suggested they should have been.
Arsenal went ahead on 42 minutes through an own goal.
Walcott's corner caused all sorts of problems in the Wigan six-yard box, with Alcaraz - just back from suspension - flicking the ball into the net under pressure from Bendtner.
There were some anxious moments for Arsenal at the start of the second half when Van Persie needed treatment after being sandwiched between two Wigan defenders as he tried to connect with Vela's cross into the six-yard box.
Walcott weaved down the right and chipped the ball back for Bendtner, but the Denmark striker headed wide.
Wigan continued to come forward and caused some concern around the Arsenal penalty box.
As the hour mark passed, the temperature continued to plummet with snow swirling around inside the Emirates Stadium basin.
Arsenal looked to have secured safe passage to the semi-finals when Vela was put clear down the left, and his low centre was bundled in by Bendtner from two yards after 67 minutes.
Walcott got away again down the right, beating the advancing keeper and pushing the ball out to Vela, but the angle was too tight as Ali Al Habsi recovered to save on the line.
With the tie now safe, Arsenal took off Van Persie and Jack Wilshere, replaced by Craig Eastmond and Samir Nasri.
Walcott almost made it three when he cut in from the left and curled a low effort just wide of the far post.
It was all too much excitement for one young fan, who sprinted down the touchline to shake hands with Wenger before being escorted away by stewards.
In stoppage time, Nasri broke into the box and rounded the keeper, but his shot was cleared off the line by James McArthur.
Arsene Wenger maintains Arsenal still have work ahead before they can put the champagne on ice and dream of Carling Cup glory at Wembley after beating Wigan 2-0 to reach the semi-finals.
Wenger insisted ''You have seen it in the Premier League, and tonight with West Ham, it can happen to Manchester United, to Chelsea and to us this season."
''We have to accept there are no guarantees, even if we are in the semi-finals, that we will win the trophy - you have to fight in every single game to win.''
Wenger continued: ''The supporters always want more, which is completely natural. You cannot say that [a first trophy] is not important, but we should also not make obsession of that."
''We want to focus on the quality of our performances, and the rest will be the consequences of those performances. The major trophies are the Champions League and the [domestic] championship, but if we can win this as well, we will take it."
''We want to win trophies and be at the top, but you can only do as well as you can. At the moment, we are at the end of November and are in quiet a good position in all of the competitions.''
Wenger had made several changes for quarter-final, including starts for Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Bendtner. The Arsenal manager felt his much-changed team produced a composed display.
''We are in the semi-final, and did the job on a cold night when we did not give chances away,'' Wenger said. ''We wanted to qualify and give some competition to some players who needed it, so we achieved both targets.''
For van Persie, it was a first start since the end of August as the Dutch forward continued his rehabilitation from an ankle injury.
Wenger said: ''Robin showed his class, and still needs games because he has been out for a long time. It was positive he played for 70 minutes tonight and let's hope he has no reaction, then he will become stronger and stronger.''
Latics boss Roberto Martinez felt his side had shown great character, but admitted they were always up against it. To add to their disappointment, striker Mauro Boselli limped off with a knee problem, while Moses could be out for up to six weeks.
''It has been a great competition for us, but today was probably a game too many,'' Martinez said. ''There were a couple of performances from players like James McArthur, Ben Watson and youngster Callum McManaman, which were positive, but it was a tough night.''
Martinez, though, insisted his squad would bounce back as they battle for Premier League survival.
''Sometimes you need to earn your own luck, and I don't want us to be a team which feels sorry for ourselves. Now is one of the key moments, we need to regroup and act like men. We are short in numbers, but not in character.
''It would be very easy to feel sorry for ourselves, but if we carry on working with levels have been showing, luck can change very quickly.''
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 30 Nov 10
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