Surface contamination of silicon wafers is detected by a combined beam-deflecting magnet and magnetic spectrometer system. Heavy ions are directed onto the surface of a silicon wafer through the beam-deflecting magnet, and ions back-scattered from contaminants in the surface of the wafer pass through the magnetic spectrometer onto a focal-plane detector. One or more Einzel lenses prevent ions back-scattered from the silicon in the wafer from reaching the detector.