Patent ID: 7417722

Claim:
An optical collection and detection system for use in a surface inspection system for inspecting a surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system having an incident beam projected through a back quartersphere and toward a desired location on the surface to impinge thereon to create reflected light and scattered light, the optical collection and detection system comprising: a detection subsystem operatively coupled to a collector module, the detection subsystem having a light detection unit arranged to detect the scattered light and generate signals in response; a detector relay assembly positioned between the workpiece surface and the light detection unit along a detector optical axis and arranged to permit a first portion of the scattered light to pass therethrough to the light detection unit; and a mask positioned between the detector relay assembly and the light detection unit along the detector optical axis and arranged to selectively prevent a portion of the first portion of the scattered light from passing through to the light detection unit; wherein the detector relay assembly further comprises a cube arranged to permit the first portion of the scattered light to pass therethrough to the light detection unit; and the mask is optically bonded to the cube.