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Reflectance difference microscopy for nanometre thickness microstructure measurements.

C Hu1, S Huo1,2, W Shen1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology & Instruments, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.

Journal of Microscopy
|February 1, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Reflectance Difference Microscopy (RDM) offers a new way to measure ultrathin microstructures. This technique precisely measures nanometer-scale edges, showing sensitivity better than 10 nm.

Keywords:
Edge detectionliquid crystal variable retardernanometre thickness microstructurereflectance difference microscopy

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Area of Science:

  • Optical Physics
  • Nanotechnology
  • Surface Metrology

Background:

  • Optical anisotropy at medium discontinuities enables advanced measurement techniques.
  • Reflectance Difference Microscopy (RDM) shows potential for nanometer-scale microstructure analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a methodology for RDM applied to ultrathin microstructure edge measurement.
  • To develop and validate a simple RDM setup for high-sensitivity metrology.

Main Methods:

  • Mathematical deduction of the RD signal based on boundary conditions and polarization optics.
  • Construction of a normal-incidence RDM system using a polarizer, liquid crystal variable retarder, and microscope objective.
  • Performance validation using a reflection mirror and high-quality linear polarizer.

Main Results:

  • The RD signal is sensitive to microstructure edges, with sign indicating the direction of change.
  • Demonstrated measurement of a 100 nm step height microstructure array.
  • Achieved height sensitivity better than 10 nm and spatial resolution of approximately 3 μm.

Conclusions:

  • RDM is a viable technique for characterizing ultrathin microstructures.
  • The developed RDM method provides high sensitivity and resolution for edge metrology.
  • This technique is suitable for quality control and research in nanotechnology.