Patent ID: 7286697
Filing Date: 2007-10-23
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for optical inspection of a surface of a substrate, the apparatus comprising: an optical head comprising a two-dimensional matrix of photodetectors, which is positioned opposite the substrate so as to capture a sequence of area images of respective areas of the surface; a rotation device, which is coupled to rotate the substrate about a rotation axis; a translation device, coupled to impart motion to at least one of the optical head and the rotation device so that the optical head is translated radially relative to the substrate while the rotation device rotates the substrate, whereby the area images in the sequence are arrayed in a spiral pattern with respect to the surface and each of the area images overlaps its neighboring ones of the area images in a direction along the spiral pattern; and an image processor, which is coupled to receive and process the area images so as to determine a characteristic of the surface.