Apparatus for inspecting the surface of materials

A surface inspecting apparatus for measuring and estimating the surface of a sheet-like object to be inspected, comprising:

• a movable stage with a to-be-inspected object mounted thereon,
• a source of white light for lighting the surface of the object by making a plurality of illumination lights respectively having different wavelengths incident on the surface of the object from respective predetermined different directions,
• means for moving said stage in the X-direction which is the longitudinal vertical direction, in the Y-direction which is the left and right side, in the Z-direction which is perpendicular to the plane of said stage and in the .theta. direction which is the direction of rotation around said Z-direction,
• image pickup means for fetching the images of parts of the object as image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths,
• image processing means for measuring and estimating the image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths for etch pits of the object, and
• synchronization control means for flashing said lighting means and simultaneously fetching the image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths by said image pickup means, synchronously with the object mounted on the stage reaching respective predetermined positions while moving said stage.

A surface inspecting apparatus for measuring and estimating the surface of a sheet-like object to be inspected, comprising:

• a movable stage with the object mounted thereon,
• a source of white light for lighting the surface of the object by making a plurality of illumination lights respectively having different wavelengths incident on the surface of the object from respective predetermined different directions.
• image pickup means for fetching the images of parts of the object as image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths,
• image processing means for measuring and estimating the image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths for etch pits of the object, and
• synchronization control means for flashing said lighting means and simultaneously fetching the image data obtained on the respective different wavelengths by said image pickup means, at a predetermined time interval starting at the time of commencement of movement of said stage.