Patent ID: 7227984

Claim:
A method of increasing the sensitivity of surface inspection techniques using time delay integration (TDI) sensor arrays, the method comprising: generating a plurality of successive images of an object such that each image of the plurality of successive images is offset a sub-pixel distance with respect to the preceding image, wherein the plurality of successive images comprise undersampled images; generating a first plurality of undersampled successive images of the object with a first TDI sensor array having a plurality of CCD sensor elements; generating a second plurality of undersampled successive images of the object with a second TDI sensor array having a plurality of CCD sensor elements such that each image of the second plurality of successive images is offset a sub-pixel distance with respect to the preceding image of the first plurality of successive images; wherein the steps of generating the first plurality of successive images of the object and generating the second plurality of successive images include: focusing light from the object such that the images generated in the generating steps are magnified versions of the object; and splitting the light from the object so that some light from the object forms the first plurality of successive images and so that other light from the surface is shifted such that it forms the second plurality of successive images that are offset a sub-pixel distance with respect to the first plurality of successive images; and processing the images together to produce a reconstructed image of the object such that the reconstructed image has a higher image quality than one of the plurality of successive images.