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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

DNA Origami-Mediated Substrate Nanopatterning of Inorganic Structures for Sensing Applications
Published on: September 27, 2019
Sensing Sub-10 nm Wide Perturbations in Background Nanopatterns Using Optical Pseudoelectrodynamics Microscopy (OPEM)
Jinlong Zhu1, Yanan Liu2, Xin Yu1
1Photonic Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana , Illinois 61801 , United States.
Abstract:
Using light as a probe to investigate perturbations with deep subwavelength dimensions in large-scale wafers is challenging because of the diffraction limit and the weak Rayleigh scattering. In this Letter, we report on a nondestructive noninterference far-field imaging method, which is built upon electrodynamic principles (mechanical work and force) of the light-matter interaction, rather than the intrinsic properties of light. We demonstrate sensing of nanoscale perturbations with sub-10 nm features in semiconductor nanopatterns. This framework is implemented using a visible-light bright-field microscope with a broadband source and a through-focus scanning apparatus. This work creates a new paradigm for exploring light-matter interactions at the nanoscale using microscopy that can potentially be extended to many other problems, for example, bioimaging, material analysis, and nanometrology.
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