Steerable focal adjustment for optical coherence tomography

1. A method of surface inspection of an object using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the method comprising:

determining a surface profile of the object, the surface profile comprising one or more regions on a surface of the object;

moving the object relative to the OCT scanner head; and

for each of the one or more regions on the surface of the object, performing:

determining a working distance where the surface of the object at the respective region is within a present depth of field;

determining an angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance from an OCT scanner head;

directing the OCT scanner head at the determined angle towards the respective region when the respective region is at the determined working distance along the respective angle; and

performing an A-scan of the object when the respective region is within the present depth of field.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the object relative to the OCT scanner head comprises continuously moving the object.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more regions on the surface of the object comprise one or more regions in a first section of the surface profile, the surface profile comprising at least one subsequent section, each subsequent section comprising one or more subsequent regions, the method further comprising, for each one of the one or more subsequent regions, performing:

determining a working distance where the surface of the object at the respective subsequent region is within the present depth of field;

determining an angle where the respective subsequent region is at the determined working distance from the OCT scanner head;

directing the OCT scanner head at the determined angle towards the respective subsequent region when the respective subsequent region is at the determined working distance along the respective angle; and

performing an A-scan of the object when the respective subsequent region is within the present depth of field.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the object has a curved surface profile.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the surface profile of the object comprises measuring a plurality of distances between a fixed point and the surface of the object.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving a surface geometry of the object from a database and wherein determining the surface profile of the object comprises determining a distance between the scanner head and the surface of the object from the surface geometry of the object.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more regions are approximately 100 to 1000 microns away from an adjacent region.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more regions are approximately 200 microns away from the adjacent region.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction of movement of the object.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction opposite to a direction of movement of the object.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction of movement of the object for regions located on downward sloping portions of the surface profile, and wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the object for regions located on upward sloping portions of the surface profile.

12. A system for surface inspection of an object using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, the OCT system comprising an optical source to produce an optical beam, a beam splitter to direct a derivative of the optical beam to a reflective element and another derivative of the optical beam to the object via a scanner head and direct optical beams returned from the reflective element and the object to a detector for detection of an interference effect, the system for surface inspection comprising:

a distance determination module to determine a surface profile of the object, the surface profile comprising one or more regions on a surface of the object;

an object translator to move the object relative to the OCT scanner head; and

a steering module to, for each of the one or more regions on the surface of the object, perform:

determining a working distance where the surface of the object at the respective region is within a present depth of field;

determining an angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance from an OCT scanner head; and

directing the OCT scanner head at the determined angle towards the respective region when the respective region is at the determined working distance along the respective angle, the OCT system performing an A-scan when the respective region is within the present depth of field.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the distance determination module comprises a plurality of measurement devices to measure a plurality of distances between one or more fixed points and the surface of the object to generate the surface profile.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more regions on the surface of the object comprise one or more regions in a first section of the surface profile, the surface profile comprising at least one subsequent section, each subsequent section comprising one or more subsequent regions, the steering module, for each one of the one or more subsequent regions, further performing:

determining a working distance where the surface of the object at the respective subsequent region is within the present depth of field;

determining an angle where the respective subsequent region is at the determined working distance from the OCT scanner head; and

directing the OCT scanner head at the determined angle towards the respective subsequent region when the respective subsequent region is at the determined working distance along the respective angle, the OCT system performing an A-scan when the respective region is within the present depth of field.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction of movement of the object.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction opposite to a direction of movement of the object.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction of movement of the object for regions located on downward sloping portions of the surface profile, and wherein the angle where the respective region is at the determined working distance is between zero-degrees and ninety-degrees in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the object for regions located on upward sloping portions of the surface profile.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the beam steering device is selected from a group consisting of a mirror galvanometer, a single axis scanner, a microelectromechanical system (MEMs)-based scanning mechanism, and a rotating scanner.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein an F-theta lens or telecentric lens is used in conjunction with the optical source.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein at least a portion of the object has a modulating surface profile.