Ultra-wide range non-contact surface profilometry based on reconfigurable fiber interferometry

Area of Science:

• Optical Metrology
• Surface Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Accurate surface characterization is crucial for device performance and fabrication.
• Existing surface profiling techniques often have limited detection ranges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a non-contact fiber interferometer system for real-time, high-precision surface profiling.
• To achieve an ultrawide detection range from nanometers to millimeters.

Main Methods:

• A cascaded non-contact fiber interferometer system was designed.
• The system utilizes wavelength interrogation and a tunable cavity configuration.
• It enables real-time surface profiling with adjustable sensitivity and range.

Main Results:

• The system achieves nanoscale profiling (10-1000 nm) with 10 nm resolution.
• Microscale mapping (1-1000 µm) is performed with 0.2 µm resolution.
• The technique successfully mapped nanostructured surfaces and estimated industrial sample roughness.

Conclusions:

• The proposed fiber interferometer offers an ultrawide detection range for surface profiling.
• This technique provides high precision for characterizing diverse surfaces, including nanostructures.
• It is a versatile tool for technical evaluation and surface dynamics assessment.