Patent ID: 7450251

Claim:
A metrology system comprising: a laser source; a fanning apparatus to receive light from the laser source and to generate a fanned transmitted beam, the beam being fanned across a first angular range; a scanner configured to scan the fanned transmitted beam through an second angular range so as to generate a scanned fanned transmitted beam, wherein at least one metrology target is positioned on a first surface of an object within the first and second angular ranges so as to form a reflected beam; and a position detection module configured to receive the reflected beam and to determine, with respect to a reference point, a range to the at least one metrology target, a first angle within the first angular range for the at least one metrology target, and a second angle within the second angular range for the at least one metrology target, the position detection module using the range, the first angle, and the second angle to determine a position of the at least one metrology target based on the reflected beam.