Paul Montgomery is a senior research scientist with the CNRS at the Engineering science, computer science and imaging laboratory (ICube) in Strasbourg, France. He has over 30 years' experience in developing optical instrumentation for the characterization of materials and biomaterials. He is currently interested in label-free far field nanoscopy, microsphere-assisted interference microscopy, local spectroscopy and the use of environmental chambers for measuring specific parameters. He is a senior member and a member of the Board of Directors of SPIE as well as being a member of IOP and SFO.
KEYWORDS: Spectroscopy, Interferometry, Reflectivity, Spectrometers, Calibration, Refractive index, Near field scanning optical microscopy, Near field optics, Microscopy, Microscopes
The large spot size of a few mm2 with spectrometers and a few thousand µm2 with ellipsometers means that classical spectroscopic characterization is limited to that of bulk materials. In the development of more recent heterogeneous materials in which there exists local variations between materials on a microscopic scale, a much smaller spot size is required for optical characterization. Several new techniques have been developed for performing local spectroscopy, such as by color camera microscopy, hyperspectral imaging microscopy, scattering type scanning near field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) or spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (s-OCT). Concerning the latter, the related technique of coherence scanning interferometry (CSI) also allows local spectroscopy by applying Fourier Transform processing to the local polychromatic interference fringe signal. This technique offers the advantages of not requiring an external spectrometer since an interferometer is incorporated in the microscope objective, but challenges remain in order to correctly adjust and calibrate the system.
In this paper we present some of our latest results of using CSI to accurately measure the local spectra at a microscopic scale with a spot size a little larger than that defined by the diffraction limit, of around 1 µm. Results demonstrate measurements of local reflectance spectra at the surface of a heterogeneous sample and on small structures buried within or under a transparent layer. Other theory has been developed to allow the measurement of local transparent layer thickness and refractive index. As well as performing local point measurements, we show how with a single scan over the optical axis, 2D cartographic maps can be made of reflectance spectra together with the topographic height map of the same area. Any nanometric height errors present due to phase on reflection errors linked to the presence of complex refractive indices can then be corrected using the spectroscopic information.
Interference microscopy is a non-destructive full-field imaging method, mainly used to measure the surface topography of different samples. In this work, two designs for improving the signal quality are described. The first consists of an original vertically orientated breadboard interferometer, in a Linnik configuration. The mechanical design of the arms allows the independent control and alignment of the coherence and the focal plane positions for optimizing fringe contrast. A low noise 16-bit camera is used to improve the sensitivity. The second interferometer is based on a Thorlabs tube system, with a Nikon Mirau Objective and a white LED, all controlled with IGOR Pro software or Labview, with the aim of being more compact, flexible and mobile. For both systems, an evaluation of the interferometric signal quality is performed, whereas the difference in lateral resolution by considering the 3D nature of the interferometric system, or only its 2D imaging abilities, is explored.
Observation of nanoscale elements through an optical microscope is often restricted by the resolving power of the optical system. Indeed, a white-light microscope allows the visualisation of objects having a size that is only just greater than half of the wavelength of the illumination used, in ideal cases, such as features of MOEMS- based components. In reality, imperfections or misalignment of the optical components makes this resolution limit worse. In 2011, Wang et al. introduced experimentally the phenomenon of two-dimensional super-resolution imaging through a glass microsphere. They showed that microsphere-assisted microscopy distinguishes itself from others by being able to perform label-free and full-field acquisitions. In addition, with only slight modifications of a classical white-light microscope, microsphere-assisted microscopy makes it possible to reach a lateral resolution of a few hundred nanometers. Recently, we successfully demonstrated the label-free combination of microsphere- assisted microscopy with interferometry. This work aims to compare performance of 2D imaging (microsphere- assisted microscopy) with 3D imaging (microsphere-assisted interference microscopy).
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