Inspections conducted in the process of fabricating semiconductor, liquid crystals or the like include a macro inspection. In the macro inspection, typically, a human visually spots a defect (flatness, the presence/absence of a scratch, or the like) on the surface of a fabricated film or the like. The macro inspection is an effective inspection because a defect can be spotted over a wide area all at once under the limitations of visual inspection.
As a macro inspection for inspecting the flatness of a film, i.e., a variation (non-uniformity) in film thickness, there has hitherto been conducted an inspection using interference light. In the inspection using interference light, narrow-wavelength light is irradiated to a film and then interference light from the film is detected. However, this method cannot be used for a film in which no interference occurs or a film through which no light is transmitted. That is, the conventional method using interference light has a limitation that only a light transmitting film can be inspected.
A related art surface defect macro inspection apparatus has been described, for example, in Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-28621. This document discloses a surface defect inspection apparatus which arranges a photo-detecting unit at a position which does not receive specular reflection light of inspection illumination light and at the same time efficiently receives scattering light thereof.