Abstract: This invention discloses inspection apparatus for detecting unfavorable foreign matters existent on the surface of an object such as semiconductor wafer. The apparatus includes a collimated beam generator portion which projects a collimated beam towards the object to-be-inspected from a side thereof, and a mechanism which senses light reflected from the surface of the object, through a polarizer plate. In accordance with this invention, the signal-to-noise ratio between a detection signal generated by a pattern of the foreign matter to-be-detected and a signal generated by a normal pattern of the object surface and sensed as a noise component can be enhanced.