Method and apparatus for laminography inspection

A laminography inspection method, comprising:

• providing an object to an inspection area;
• irradiating the object with at least two x-ray beams, each incident on the object from a different angle, one at a time, to generate a series of angularly displaced images of the object, wherein the at least two x-ray beams are generated by a stationary multiple focal spot x-ray source;
• shifting each of the angularly displaced images with respect to one another;
• adding each of the shifted images together to reconstruct an image of a plane of the object;
• and
• inspecting the reconstructed image plane to identify the presence or absence of a defect in the object.

A laminography inspection system, comprising:

• a multiple focal spot x-ray source configured to irradiate an object with a series of angularly displaced x-ray beams one at a time without substantial rotation or translation of the multiple focal spot x-ray source, wherein the multiple focal spot x-ray source is disposed on a first side of the object;
• a detector configured to receive at least a fraction of the angularly displaced x-ray beams after being attenuated by the object to produce at least two x-ray projection images of the object, wherein the detector is disposed on a second side of the object opposite the first side;
• and
• a processor configured to process the at least two x-ray projection images to bring at least two planes of the object into focus, one at a time.