It is shown that the stochastic model of Fe'nyes and Nelson can be generalized in such a way that the diffusion constant of the Markov theory becomes a free parameter. This extra freedom allows one to identify quantum mechanics with a class of Markov processes with diffusion constants varying from 0 to oo.

The results of recent research on synthetic electro -optic imaging using a Linnik interference microscope are presented. A new technique is used in which images are produced by calculating the degree of coherence between corresponding pixels in the object and reference image planes of the Linnik microscope.Each pixel in the synthetic image is a function of this degree of coherence.This amounts to what one might call "Coherence Probe Imaging."The images have the properties that all parts of the object which are out of focus appear dark, those in focus appear bright, and the depth of focus is very narrow. Three dimensional images can be produced by moving the object in the vertical direction and recording a number of optical sections of the image.Theoretical analyses and experimental results are presented. A model for the performance of the coherence probe microscope is first developed and then its performance is compared with that of a standard microscope and of a confocal laser scanning microscope within the context of this model.

A dynamical treatment of Markovian diffusion is presented and several applications discussed. The stochastic interpretation of quantum mechanics is considered within this framework. A model for Brownian movement which includes second order quantum effects is derived.

Summary:A method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images for the determination of sharpness is presented in this paper. Described is a procedure for qualitative analysis based on a software program called SEM Monitor that can be applied to research or industrial SEMs for day-to-day performance monitoring. The idea is based on the fact that, as the electron beam scans the sample, the low-frequency changes in the video signal show information about the larger features and the high-frequency changes give data on finer details. The image contains information about the primary electron beam and about all the parts contributing to the signal formation in the SEM. If everything else is kept unchanged, with a suitable sample, the geometric parameters of the primary electron beam can be mathematically determined. An image of a sample, which has fine details at a given magnification, is sharper if there are more high frequency changes in it. In the SEM, a better focused electron beam yields a sharper image, and this sharpness can be measured. The method described is based on calculations in the frequency domain and can also be used to check and optimize two basic parameters of the primary electron beam, the focus, and the astigmatism.

A model for the motion of a charged particle in the vacuum is presented which, although purely classical in concept, yields Schrödinger's equation as a solution. It suggests that the origins of the peculiar and nonclassical features of quantum mechanics are actually inherent in a statistical description of the radiative reactive force.

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Critical Shape Metrology (CSM), a Critical Dimension Scanning Electron Microscope (CD-SEM)-basedtechnique that extracts accurate feature shape information from images obtained during routine in-line wafer inspection as a means of minimizing measurement bias, is described and explored experimentally. CSM uses intensity profiles from CD-SEM images of known materials that are compared in real time to profiles contained in an off-line generated Monte Carlo SEM simulation library. The library of intensity waveforms spans the range of expected geometric feature shapes and material compositions. Extensive comparison of CSM results to accepted reference measurement system measurements using Critical Dimension Atomic Force Microscopes, cross-sectional SEMs and Focused Ion Beams are made. Agreement of the CSM method to each of these is shown to be better than 1% or within experimental uncertainty and significantly better agreement than traditional CD metrology algorithms.