Full polarization optical profilometry

Optical digital tomographic microscopy can be used for profilometry. The profile of the surface can be estimated from measurements of the complex diffracted far field obtained when the sample is illuminated successively under various incidences. Outside the validity domain of perturbative theories of diffraction, the profile is determined by using an iterative inverse wave scattering numerical method. In this paper we show that, for perfectly conducting surfaces, the two fundamental polarization cases involve different distances of interaction in the multiple scattering phenomenon. The use of both polarization cases in the inversion process leads to a considerable improvement of the lateral resolution. Robustness to noise is also discussed.