Optical microscopes integrated with CCD cameras are widely used for automatic inspection of precision circuit patterns fabricated on glass masks and silicon wafers. For this application it is important to position the object always is focus so that the image appears in good quality while the microscope scans the object. However, as the magnification of the microscope is taken large for fine resolution the depth of focus becomes small, often in submicron ranges, requiring special care in focusing. This study proposes a new auto-focusing method, which can be readily incorporated in existing optical configuration of microscope. This method is based on optical triangulation using a separate beam of laser and two photodiodes, eliminating focus errors caused by surface roughness and waviness. Experimental results prove that the method can produce focus error signals which are very sensitive with a resolution of 5 nm within 0.5 ${mu}{ extrm}{m}$ accuracy.