Patent ID: 7623227

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 that is collected by a plurality of collector modules, the output from which is analyzed individually or in combinations, the optical collection and detection system comprising: a detection subsystem operatively coupled to a collector module, the detection subsystem having at least one light detection unit that is arranged to detect the scattered light collected by the collector module and generate signals in response; a polarizing relay assembly positioned between the workpiece surface and the light detection unit arranged to selectively permit the scattered light having a selected polarization orientation to pass therethrough along at least one detector optical axis to the at least one light detection unit, wherein the polarization relay assembly comprises a rotating carousel polarization analyzer with a rotating carousel that contains a plurality of glass cubes.