Patent Document ID: 20110228258
Application ID: 13118004
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method of detecting a defect by inspecting a specimen including the steps of: illuminating a surface of a specimen on which plural patterns are formed with an elongated shape light flux from a first elevation angle, said specimen being set on a stage which is continuously moving in one direction; capturing an image of the specimen illuminated by the elongated shape light flux with a linear image sensor of an optical detecting unit installed in a second elevation angle direction; and detecting a defect on the specimen by processing a signal output from the linear image sensor, wherein an optical axis of a longitudinal direction of said elongated shape light flux is in parallel with a direction of pixel alignment of the linear image sensor, and wherein the stage moves within a plane defined by two axes of a Cartesian coordinate system and the elongated shape light flux is directed along a third axis of the Cartesian coordinate system.