Patent ID: 7746472

Claim:
A system comprising: source of a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation; stage for supporting a sample; data detector of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation; said system further comprising, between said source and stage, means for receiving a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation from said source thereof and providing it to a surface of a sample on said stage at any of at least two angles-of-incidence with respect to said surface, with at least one of said angles-of-incidence being available as a focused, and as a non-focused, beam onto said sample surface; said source of a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation, data detector of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation, and means for receiving a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation from said source thereof and providing it to a surface of a sample on said stage at any of at least two angles-of-incidence with respect to said surface, being functionally mounted so as to enable movement as a unit; said system further comprising means for detecting the direction in which a normal to a sample surface projects and means for detecting the angle and plane of incidence of a beam of electromagnetic radiation provided by said source of a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation, and providing signals which are representative thereof; said system further comprising actuator means for receiving said representative signals and in response automatically controlling the separation between: as a unit, said source, data detector, and means for receiving a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation from said source thereof and providing it to a sample on said stage; and the surface of a sample on said stage; said system further comprising actuator means for receiving said representative signals and in response automatically controlling the effective tip/tilt between said beam of electromagnetic radiation provided by said source of a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation with respect to said sample surface, and therefor the orientation of the angle and plane of incidence of said spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation provided by said source of a beam of spectroscopic electromagnetic radiation with respect to said sample surface; and optionally, means for causing rotation of said sample about a normal to said surface thereof.