Patent ID: 7342218
Filing Date: 2008-03-11
Classification: G01N,G02B

Abstract:
1. An imaging apparatus for producing a plurality of parallel consecutive scan lines on a surface of an article under inspection, comprising: a radiation source adapted to produce a beam of coherent radiation; a scanner arrangement adapted to produce an individual one of the scan lines by receiving the beam of coherent radiation and deflecting said beam in two dimensions as projected onto a surface of the article under inspection, a first dimension substantially perpendicular to a translation axis along which the article is translated while undergoing inspection, and a second dimension substantially parallel to the translation axis, wherein a first scan extent of the beam in the first dimension is greater than a second scan extent of the beam in the second dimension and a first scan period of the deflection of the beam in the first dimension is greater than a second scan period of deflection of the beam in the second dimension such that an effective width of the scan line is wider than a width of the beam; an optical arrangement configured to focus the beam as received from the scanner arrangement onto the surface of the article and to direct scattered radiation from the surface of the article to an imaging sensor having a resolution measured in pixels and being adapted to collect the scattered radiation.