Patent ID: 7468507

Claim:
An apparatus for scanning a surface, comprising: a beam generator for generating an array of optical beams, the beam generator comprising a light source which projects a source beam along a source axis; beam optics having an optical axis, said beam optics adapted to focus the array of optical beams to illuminate a region of the surface intercepted by the optical axis, wherein each optical beam illuminates a portion of a respective sub-region within the region; a translator for translating at least one of the array and the surface to cause a surface velocity relative to the optical axis in a first direction; and an array scanner, for scanning, during the translating, each of the optical beams over the respective sub-region in a second direction, different from the first direction, said scanning defining an array of raster patterns, each raster pattern covering a respective sub-region and comprising rows perpendicular to said first direction, wherein the array scanner comprises a deflector which deflects the source beam from the source axis and said scanning comprising scanning a predetermined number of said rows, and then jumping in a direction substantially opposite to the first direction, thereby repeating said raster pattern over a new region of the surface, and wherein the deflector comprises an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) adapted to adjustably deflect the source beam.