[ 0017 ] fig1 is a schematic side view of a system 20 for bright - field imaging of a surface 22 , in accordance with a embodiment of the present invention . typically , surface 22 is the upper surface of a semiconductor wafer , and system 20 is used to observe and detect defects on the surface . the wafer is preferably mounted on a translation stage 24 , which positions the wafer for inspection . alternatively , surface 22 may belong to a substrate or object of substantially any other type that is amenable to bright - field scanning for imaging and / or inspection . surface 22 is illuminated by a beam of coherent radiation , preferably from a laser 26 . a scanner 28 deflects the laser beam over the surface , along a primary scan axis in the x - direction , i . e ., in the direction perpendicular to the page surface in the view shown in fig1 . stage 24 translate surface 22 in steps along the y - direction , so that the surface is traversed by a series of parallel scan lines . in one embodiment , illustrated below in fig2 and 3 , scanner 28 also adds a rapid transverse deflection to the laser beam , in the x - direction , in order to effectively broaden the scan lines . the beam from laser 26 is expanded by a telescope 30 , and then passes through a beamsplitter 32 to be focused onto surface 22 by an objective lens 34 . the telescope and objective lens together define an effective numerical aperture of the focused laser beam , na c . assuming the optics to be diffraction - limited , the laser beam is accordingly focused to a spot 36 on surface 22 whose diameter is approximately d = λ / na c . at a wavelength λ of 532 nm , and na c = 0 . 7 , for example , the diameter of spot 36 is therefore about 0 . 76 μm . the light scattered from spot 36 is collected by objective 34 , with a collection numerical aperture na o . the collected light is reflected by beamsplitter 32 to an electronic imaging camera 38 . to minimize coherence effects that reduce the resolution of the image formed by camera 38 , system 20 is preferably designed so that na c is at least equal to na o , and is most preferably about 1 . 5 times na o , as described in the background of the invention . at the same time , for optimal resolution , the value of na o is preferably kept as large as possible . camera 38 comprises an image sensor 40 , preferably a charge - coupled device ( ccd ) matrix array . typically , sensor 40 comprises an array of 2048 × 20 sensors , each approximately 15 × 15 μm . the sensor includes readout electronics capable of reading out the charge stored in the array elements , preferably at a rate of at least 1 billion pixels / sec . objective 34 and the optics of camera 38 are preferably designed for a magnification of 60 ×, so that each image pixel corresponds to an area about 0 . 25 μm across on surface 22 . the focused laser spot , as noted above , covers 3 pixels . an image processor 42 receives and processes the output of sensor 40 to form a high - resolution image of surface 22 . [ 0021 ] fig2 is a schematic , pictorial view showing details of scanner 28 , in accordance with a embodiment of the present invention . the scanner in this embodiment comprises an electro - optic crystal scanning element 50 , followed by an acousto - optic scanning element 54 , typically with an intervening turning mirror 52 . acousto - optic element 54 scans the laser beam in the x - direction , i . e ., the primary scan direction . the angular extent of the scan is typically approximately 5 °, with a typical scan period of 20 μs . this angular scan corresponds to a linear scan traversing about 0 . 5 mm across surface 22 ( depending on the choice of telescope 30 and objective 34 ). alternatively , similar scan parameters may be obtained using a high - speed galvanometer mirror or rotating prism , as are known in the art . electro - optic element 50 scans the laser beam in the y - direction . typically , the scan extent of the electro - optic element is only about 0 . 0250 , corresponding to 5 μm on surface 22 , much less than that of the acousto - optic element . on the other hand , the scan period of the electro - optic element is typically only about 10 ns , much shorter than that of scanning elements of other types . a waveform generator 56 , preferably under the control of processor 42 , generates radio - frequency ( rf ) waveforms to drive elements 50 and 54 in the desired mutual synchronization . [ 0023 ] fig3 is a schematic top view of surface 22 , showing a scan pattern 62 generated by the scanner shown in fig2 in accordance with a embodiment of the present invention . pixels 60 of sensor 40 are projected onto surface 22 in this view , as an aid in visualizing the image that is generated by system 20 as a result . as noted above , the size of the focal spot of the laser beam formed on surface 22 is approximately 0 . 7 μm , while each pixel 60 corresponds to an image area of 15 μm on the surface . thus , in the absence of transverse scanning element 50 , the scan pattern generated on the surface by system 20 would be only about a single pixel in width . in the example pictured here , however , the transverse deflection of the laser beam expands the scan pattern laterally to about seven pixels in width . scanning elements 50 and 54 are timed so that element 54 advances the laser beam by the equivalent of two pixels along the scan axis during a single scan period of element 50 . given a scan period of 10 ns for scanning element 50 , it can be seen that the laser beam covers surface 22 at a rate of about 7 pixels / ns . thus , system 20 is able to take advantage of the full readout rate of camera 38 , which is typically 1 billion pixels / sec , as described above , substantially without compromising the high numerical aperture used to focus the laser beam onto surface 22 . consequently , both the resolution and throughput of system 20 are optimized . after completing the scan shown in fig3 over the prescribed scan distance in the x - direction , stage 24 is stepped by a distance roughly equal to the scan width in the y - direction , i . e ., by about seven pixels in the example shown here . the scan pattern is then repeated until the entire region of interest on surface 22 ( which may comprise the entire surface ) has been imaged . whereas fig2 and 3 shows one specific example of how combined longitudinal and transverse scanning can be accomplished , alternative configurations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . the scanning rates and periods of elements 50 and 54 may be adjusted to accord with different imaging resolution requirements and different sizes and speeds of sensor 40 . moreover , in alternative embodiments of the present invention ( not shown in the figures ), the longitudinal and transverse scanning functions of scanner 28 , as exemplified by fig3 may be accomplished by a single scanning element . for example , acousto - optic element 54 may be driven to deflect the laser beam in both the x - and y - directions . [ 0027 ] fig4 is a schematic side view of a system 70 for bright - field imaging of surface 22 , in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . this embodiment is largely similar to that shown in fig1 except for the addition of a beam dividing element 72 , which creates an array of spots 36 on the surface , mutually spaced in the y - direction . each of the spots preferably has a small diameter and high numerical aperture , as described above . various methods are known in the art for splitting the laser beam into multiple spots . one example is a damman grating , which separates an incoming beam into multiple orders of equal power . as another example , an arbitrary beam array may be designed using methods described by morrison in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 559 , 724 , whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . [ 0028 ] fig5 is a schematic top view of surface 22 , showing scan patterns 80 , 82 and 84 generated in system 70 , in accordance with a embodiment of the present invention . in this example , the incident laser beam is split into three equal spots , which are spaced three pixels apart in the y - direction . the scan patterns of the three spots are similar to pattern 62 ( fig3 ), except that the extent of the lateral scan , in the y - direction , is substantially reduced . this arrangement reduces the demands on scanner 28 and may enable more rapid overall coverage of surface 22 . in another embodiment of the present invention , not shown in the figures , the laser beam is focused onto the surface with a non - uniform numerical aperture — high na in the x - direction , preferably equal to or greater than na o , and lower in the y - direction . as a consequence of the non - uniform optical configuration , the laser beam forms a focal spot that is elongated in the y - direction , transverse to the x - direction scan line . thus , each scan over the surface covers a wide area , as in the embodiment shown in fig3 without the need for additional transverse deflection of the beam by scanning element 50 or other means . the resolution of the image will , of course , be compromised in the y - direction , but the full resolution afforded in the x - direction is sufficient for some applications . although the embodiments described hereinabove use certain particular types of optics and optical configurations , the principles of the present invention may similarly be implemented in other optical systems , using other types of optical components . it will thus be appreciated that the embodiments described above are cited by way of example , and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather , the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove , as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art .