Real-time high-resolution topographic imagery using interference microscopy

¹ Laboratoire d'Optique Physique, École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles, CNRS, UPR A0005, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 5, France
² Laboratoire de Physique et Application des Semiconducteurs (PHASE), CNRS, UPR 292, 23 rue du Loess, 67037 Strasbourg, France
³ Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Image, de l'Informatique et de la Télédétection (LSIIT), CNRS, UPRES-A 7005/ULP, École Nationale Supérieure de Physique de Strasbourg, boulevard Sébastien Brant, 67400 Illkirch, France

Corresponding author: dubois@optique.espci.fr

Received: 11 December 2001
Revised: 14 January 2002
Accepted: 25 January 2002
Published online: 15 November 2002

Abstract

New instrumentation has been developed that is dedicated to the measurement of surface morphology with high resolutions and short acquisition times. Sinusoidal phase-shifting interferometry is demonstrated to provide within an acquisition time of only a few milliseconds topographic images with ~1 nm height precision, ~1 μm lateral resolution, and a few tens of pm sensitivity. A white-light scanning microscope is also under development, using an in-house developed high speed, intelligent CCD camera, the first tests of which demonstrate the feasibility of providing topographic images of deep surface relief (several microns to several tens of microns) within less than 0.3 s. The useful lateral field of view can be extended by employing image “stitching” while maintaining a high lateral resolution.