Surface features mapping

Abstract

Provided herein is an apparatus, including a light source configured to illuminate a surface of an article. In addition, the apparatus includes a light detector array. The light detector array includes a number of light sensors configured to simultaneously receive scattered light from features about the entire surface. The light detector array is configured to provide information for qualitatively and quantitatively characterizing the features.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a light source configured to illuminate an entire surface of an article; and   a light detector array comprising a plurality of light sensors configured to simultaneously receive scattered light from features about the entire surface, wherein the light detector array is configured to provide information for qualitatively and quantitatively characterizing the features.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to hold the article in a stationary position while the light source illuminates the surface of the article. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the light source is configured to uniformly illuminate the entire surface of the article. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the light source is configured to prevent vibrations while the light source illuminates the surface of the article and the light detector array receives the scattered light. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the features are 50 nm to 0.1 nm in their smallest dimension. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a telecentric lens coupled to the light detector array. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the telecentric lens is configured to prevent feature-position errors in a surface map corresponding to the surface of the article, and   the surface map has at least a 10-μm feature-position accuracy.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each light sensor of the plurality of light sensors corresponds to a pixel in a surface map corresponding to the surface of the article. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a light source configured to homogenously illuminate an entire surface of an article; and   a light detector array comprising a plurality of sensors coupled to a double telecentric lens, wherein the light detector array is configured to simultaneously receive light from features about the entire surface of the article, and further configured to provide information for mapping the features.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the apparatus is configured to hold the article in a stationary position without rotation while the light source uniformly illuminates the entire surface of the article. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the light source is configured to minimize vibrations while the light source illuminates the surface of the article and the light detector array receives the light. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of sensors are between 1 μm and 10 μm in their smallest dimension. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to detect features that are more than 100 times smaller than one of the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         14 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a light source configured to illuminate an entire surface of an article, wherein light incident upon the surface includes infrared wavelengths; and   a light detector array comprising a plurality of light sensors configured to simultaneously receive light from features about the entire surface, wherein the light detector array is configured to provide information for analyzing the light received from the features.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is configured to hold the article in a stationary position without rotation while the light source uniformly illuminates the entire surface of the article. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the light source is a high-speed flash lamp configured to prevent vibrations while the light source uniformly illuminates the entire surface of the article. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the light source is configured to prevent feature-position errors in a surface map. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of light sensors is micrometer sized and corresponds to a pixel in a surface map. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the light detector array is further configured to provide information for quantitatively characterizing the features. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the light detector array is further configured to provide information for qualitatively characterizing the features.