Patent ID: 7957066

Claim:
A system for inspecting a specimen comprising: an illumination subsystem configured to produce a plurality of channels of laser light energy, each channel of light energy produced having differing characteristics from at least one other channel of light energy, wherein said differing characteristics comprise at least one from a group comprising differing illumination modes and differing frequencies; optics configured to receive the plurality of channels of light energy and combine the plurality of channels of light energy into one combined light energy beam and direct the one combined light energy beam toward the specimen at a substantially normal angle of incidence; and a data acquisition subsystem comprising at least one detector configured to detect reflected light energy directed toward said at least one detector at a substantially normal reflected angle of incidence from said specimen; wherein the data acquisition subsystem is configured to separate reflected light energy into a plurality of received channels corresponding to the plurality of channels of light energy using an optical element unique to one differing characteristic of one channel of light energy.