Advanced optical characterization of micro solid immersion lens

Kim, Myun-Sik; Scharf, Toralf; Brun, M.; Olivier, S.; Nicoletti, S.; Herzig, Hans Peter

doi:10.1117/12.921871

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The characteristic information about the features relies on the phase. The phenomenon like photonic nanojets and characterization of microlenses were explained with phase information and phase developments from the structures [8][9] . The phase shifts during the propagation of light helps to modify the shape of the light beams [10][11][12][13] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase analysis of amplitude binary mask structures

et al. 2016

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Shaping of light behind masks using different techniques is the milestone of the printing industry. The aerial image distribution or the intensity distribution at the printing distances defines the resolution of the structure after printing. Contrast and phase are the two parameters that play a major role in shaping of light to get the desired intensity pattern. Here, in contrast to many other contributions that focus on intensity, we discuss the phase evolution for different structures. The amplitude or intensity characteristics of the structures in a binary mask at different proximity gaps have been analyzed extensively for many industrial applications. But the phase evolution from the binary mask having OPC structures is not considered so far. The mask we consider here is the normal amplitude binary mask but having high resolution Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) structures for corners. The corner structures represent a two dimensional problem which is difficult to handle with simple rules of phase masks design and therefore of particular interest. The evolution of light from small amplitude structures might lead to high contrast by creating sharp phase changes or phase singularities which are points of zero intensity. We show the phase modulation at different proximity gaps and can visualize the shaping of light according to the phase changes. The analysis is done with an instrument called High Resolution Interference Microscopy (HRIM), a Mach -Zehnder interferometer that gives access to three-dimensional phase and amplitude images. The current paper emphasizes on the phase measurement of different optical proximity correction structures, and especially on corners of a binary mask.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase analysis of amplitude binary mask structures

et al. 2016

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“…SILs with diameters in the micrometer region [12] down to sub-wavelength size [13] are described in the literature. Brunner et al propose a diffraction-based solid immersion lens (dSIL) as an alternative to the conventional design based on refraction [14].…”

Section: The Near-field Accessed With Solid Immersion Lens Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Extension of solid immersion lens technology to super-resolution Raman microscopy

Ostertag¹,

Lorenz²,

Rebner³

et al. 2014

Nanospectroscopy

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The near-field accessed with solid immersion lens technologyThe main reason for using solid immersion lenses is their capability to enhance the spatial resolution. Solids have higher refractive indices than air. When used as the immersion medium, light travels more slowly and the wavelength is shorter in the optically denser medium which results in an improvement in resolution. Mansfield and Kino were the first to recommend the SIL for increasing the spatial resolution of the optical microscope [1]. A SIL is a spherical lens (diameter 2r, refractive index n SIL ) which is polished to a thickness of r (hemisphere type) or (1+1/n SIL )r (supersphere or Weierstrass type) [2,3]. The sphere diameter is usually in the range of single millimeters down to micrometers. The numerical aperture (NA) of the complete system is improved by factor of n SIL (hemisphere type) or (n SIL ) 2 (Weierstrass type) -subject to the condition that the refractive index of the substrate is at least as high as the refractive index of the SIL. If this condition is not met, the refractive index of the substrate limits the effective numerical aperture NA eff of the SIL/ objective optical system (with NA eff = n SIL sinα m , where α m is the marginal ray angle inside the SIL) [4]. The angular range of collected information is determined by the SIL probe, the objective lens, and the detector [5].The SIL technique is also known as "numerical aperture increasing lens (NAIL) microscopy" [6]. For the NAIL technique the inclusion of evanescent waves is crucial for resolution gain [7]. Tom Milster et al. have described the role of propagating and evanescent waves in solid immersion lens systems [8].It must be emphasized here that the lateral resolution of a SIL microscope can exceed the "NAIL Limit", i.e. by the factor of the refractive index n SIL . In order to achieve this, the evanescent component of the light from the substrate has to be identified amongst the predominant propagated component. One approach is to tailor the angular spectrum by annular illumination and collection which can significantly improve the resolution and emphasize Abstract: Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) has developed during recent decades into a valuable tool to optically image the surface topology of materials with super-resolution. With aperture-based SNOM systems, the resolution scales with the size of the aperture, but also limits the sensitivity of the detection and thus the application for spectroscopic techniques like Raman SNOM. In this paper we report the extension of solid immersion lens (SIL) technology to Raman SNOM. The hemispherical SIL with a tip on the bottom acts as an apertureless dielectric nanoprobe for simultaneously acquiring topographic and spectroscopic information. The SIL is placed between the sample and the microscope objective of a confocal Raman microscope. The lateral resolution in the Raman mode is validated with a cross section of a semiconductor layer system and, at approximately 180 nm, is beyond the classical diffraction lim...

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“…millimeter range dimensions, due to the lack of advanced fabrication technologies. The advance of micro-and nano-technology boosts the development of different types of SILs, for instance, diffractive SILs [2] and micro-scale SILs [3][4][5]. In our previous work, we demonstrated for the first time the fabrication and optical characterization of nano-scale SILs down to subwavelength size [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflow of non-circular nano-pillars to fabricate nano-scale solid immersion lenses

Kim

Keeler

Rydberg

et al. 2012

2012 International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics

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We investigate the reflow of non-circular, i.e., triangular and square, shaped pillars to fabricate nano-scale solid immersion lenses (SILs). Electron beam lithography (EBL) and thermal reflow are the core of the fabrication process. For the optical characterization at λ = 642 nm, nano-SILs are replicated on a transparent substrate by soft lithography. The focal spots produced by the nano-SILs show both spotsize reduction and peak-intensity enhancement, which are consistent with the immersion effect.

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Advanced optical characterization of micro solid immersion lens

Cited by 4 publications

References 41 publications

Phase analysis of amplitude binary mask structures

Phase analysis of amplitude binary mask structures

Extension of solid immersion lens technology to super-resolution Raman microscopy

Reflow of non-circular nano-pillars to fabricate nano-scale solid immersion lenses

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