Patent ID: 7671980

Claim:
A surface inspection method by irradiating light to a predetermined position on a surface of an inspection object to form an illumination spot, detecting light scattered, diffracted and reflected from said illumination spot, and detecting foreign matters and defects existing on the surface of said inspection object or in the proximity of, and inside, the surface, said method comprising the steps of: condensing and reflecting the light scattered, diffracted and reflected from said illumination spot by a plurality of condensation concave mirrors arranged at a plurality of azimuth angles with respect to the surface of said inspection object, respectively; reflecting light reflected from each of said condensation concave mirrors arranged at a predetermined positional relationships with each of a plurality of image formation concave mirrors arranged at a higher angle of elevation than said condensation concave mirror with respect to the surface of said inspection object for each of said plurality of azimuth angles; distinguishing and detecting light reflected by said plurality of image formation concave mirrors; and detecting foreign matters and defects existing on the surface of said inspection object or in the proximity of, and inside, the surface of said inspection object on the basis of the light detected.