ILLUMINATION SYSTEM, INSPECTION TOOL WITH ILLUMINATION SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF OPERATING AN ILLUMINATION SYSTEM

An illumination system (100), an inspection tool and a method for inspecting an object are disclosed. A configurable area light source (2) is arranged in an illumination optical axis (20) of an illumination beam path (21), wherein the configurable area light source (2) is configured such that different beam diameters are settable. At least one illumination lens (12) is positioned in the illumination beam path (21) for directing a collimated beam at least onto a field of view (13) on a surface (5) of the object (6), wherein a value of an angle of incidence of the illumination optical axis (20) of the illumination beam path equals a value of an angle of reflectance of the imaging optical axis (80) of the imaging beam path (81). The invention allows the combination of the functionality of a wide angle coaxial illumination and a collimated coaxial illumination in one illumination system (100). (Fig. 14)