Vibration disturbance compensation in in situ confocal microscopy

In situ microscopic measurement, conducted within the natural environment of a material or device, offers precise observations directly at the sample location, mitigating potential damage or deformation during transport. However, the inherent vibration of microscopic measurement equipment can introduce blurring and distortion to images, compromising measurement accuracy. This study proposes employing an acceleration sensor to detect microprobe vibrations and subsequently calculates three-dimensional coordinate displacements to compensate for measurement discrepancies. This approach can diminish the adverse effects of vibration on measurement outcomes within the order of hundreds of nanometers. Experimental results demonstrated the efficacy of this method in mitigating vibration artifact stripes or irregularities with a displacement amplitude I = sinc²[a(z - b)] ranging from ∼0.2 to 5.2 μm and a frequency spanning ∼7.9-18.8 Hz. Moreover, the lateral resolution of the probe attained 212 nm. Notably, the measurement error associated with the standard step height was decreased from 2.32 to 0.03 μm.