Disclosed is a system including: (i) an interferometer configured to direct test electromagnetic radiation to a test surface and reference electromagnetic radiation to a reference surface and subsequently combine the electromagnetic radiation to form an interference pattern, the electromagnetic radiation being derived from a common source; (ii) a multi-element detector; (iii) one or more optics configured to image the interference pattern onto the detector so that different elements of the detector correspond to different illumination angles of the test surface by the test electromagnetic radiation; and (iv) an electronic processor coupled to the detector, wherein the electronic processor is configured to process information measured by the detector to determine information about a test object having the test surface. The measurements made by the detector elements provide ellipsometry/reflectometry data for the test surface.