Abstract: Arrangements classifying or inspecting finely classified defects. When irradiating a subject with light; focusing a scattered light from a subject surface onto plural optical receivers; and inspecting for a defect based on outputs from the optical receivers. Performed are: creating a reference matrix recipe with respect to each defect, the recipe provided with plural feature items indicative of features of the defect on one axis of the matrix and optical items including a range of detected value levels of plural detecting optical systems with respect to the feature items on the other axis, and the recipe having information defining the defect at a plurality of points in the matrix; and determining a type of the defect by creating a work matrix recipe corresponding to the reference matrix recipe based on the output from the plurality of detectors and comparing the work matrix recipe with the reference matrix recipe.

Abstract: In a method and an apparatus for inspecting a surface of a disk, a disk that is a sample is rotated, and a light beam is applied to the sample while moving the sample in the direction perpendicular to the center axis of rotation. Light reflected and scattered from the sample in a first direction is detected to obtain a first detection signal while applying the light beam. Light reflected and scattered from the sample in a second direction is detected to obtain a second detection signal while applying the light beam. The first detection signal and the second detection signal are processed to detect a defect on the sample. A preset threshold is compared with the output level of the first detection signal or the output level of the second detection signal to determine whether the material of the disk that is the sample is a predetermined material.