System and method for shape reconstruction from optical images

A method for digitally reconstructing a surface of an object, comprising:

• receiving image data including pixel values from one or more two-dimensional optical images of the object;
• estimating surface gradient information for each pixel location from the image data, the surface gradient information representing approximate slopes at locations on the surface of the object corresponding to the pixel locations;
• and
• determining surface height information defining a shape of the surface of the object in greater than two dimensions using said surface gradient information and noise information representing a noise distribution in the one or more optical images,
• wherein said determining comprises:
• utilizing a Bayesian process to calculate the surface height information, and
• wherein said utilizing comprises:
• retrieving a pre-calculated gradient-to-height matrix;
• and
• multiplying the surface gradient information with the gradient-to-height matrix to determine the surface height information.

A method for digitally reconstructing a surface of an object, comprising:

• receiving image data including pixel values from one or more two-dimensional optical images of the object;
• estimating surface gradient information for each pixel location from the image data, the surface gradient information representing approximate slopes at locations on the surface of the object corresponding to the pixel locations;
• determining surface height information defining a shape of the surface of the object in greater than two dimensions using said surface gradient information and noise information representing a noise distribution in the one or more optical images;
• and
• determining an error distribution for each pixel location based on the estimated surface gradient information.

A method for digitally reconstructing a surface of an object, comprising:

• receiving image data including pixel values from one or more optical images of the object using at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators;
• estimating surface gradient information for each pixel location according to a relationship between the at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators and the received image data, the surface gradient information representing approximate slopes at spatial locations on the surface of the object corresponding to the pixel locations;
• and
• determining surface height information defining a shape of the surface of the object in greater than two dimensions using noise information representing a noise distribution in the one or more optical images and multi-resolution processing of the surface gradient information.

An optical inspection system, comprising:

• an illumination source configured to provide illumination in at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators;
• a surface gradient processor connected to receive image data including pixel values from one or more optical images of an object using the illumination from the illumination source and configured to estimate surface gradient information for each pixel location according to a relationship between the at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators and the received image data, the surface gradient information representing approximate slopes at spatial locations on a surface of the object corresponding to the pixel locations;
• and
• a reconstruction processor configured to determine surface height information defining a shape of the surface of the object in greater than two dimensions using said surface gradient information and noise information representing a noise distribution in the one or more optical images.

An optical inspection system, comprising:

• an illumination source configured to provide illumination in at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators;
• a surface gradient processor connected to receive image data including pixel values from one or more optical images of an object using the illumination from the illumination source and configured to estimate surface gradient information for each pixel location according to a relationship between the at least one predetermined configuration of illuminators and the received image data, the surface gradient information representing approximate slopes at spatial locations on a surface of the object corresponding to the pixel locations;
• and
• a reconstruction processor configured to determine surface height information defining a shape of the surface of the object in greater than two dimensions using noise information representing a noise distribution in the one or more optical images and multi-resolution processing of said surface gradient information.