Nanoscale Optical Microscopy in the Vectorial Focusing Regime

Serrels, K. A.; Ramsay, E.; Warburton, Richard J.; Reid, Derryck T.

doi:10.1007/978-3-540-95946-5_233

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In this study, for the first time, we are characterizing the limits of lateral spatial resolution for the interconnect layers of an IC in both confocal and widefield imaging schemes. In agreement with earlier studies, we observe the effect of polarization as different resolutions in different directions due to linearly polarized illumination [4], [5]. We demonstrate a lateral spatial resolution of 325nm (λ 0 /4) in agreement with the values calculated theoretically.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Subsurface microscopy of multilayered integrated circuits

Köklü

Ünlü

2009

2009 IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting Conference Proceedings

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Subsurface microscopy of multilayered integrated circuits

Köklü

Ünlü

2009

2009 IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting Conference Proceedings

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“…Focusing under the high NA conditions provided by the NAIL enables us to observe the effects of polarization and dielectric interfaces in the focal region. Enhanced contrast and ellipticity of the focal spot induced by the linearly polarized illumination are common results for this geometry [5], [6], [7]. In this study, we demonstrate that the longitudinal focusing parameters are also different for the directions parallel and perpendicular to the polarization direction in the vicinity of a dielectric interface.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Focusing anomalies in the vicinity of dielectric interfaces

Köklü

Ünlü

2009

2009 IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting Conference Proceedings

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Abstract-We investigate the interface effects on high numerical aperture focusing of linearly polarized illumination. Theoretical and experimental demonstration is conducted in subsurface backside microscopy of silicon integrated circuits. I. INTRODUCTIONThe need for high resolution imaging necessitates the use of high numerical aperture (NA) optical systems. Solid immersion lens (SIL) microscopy is a diffraction limited imaging technique that provides high NAs taking advantage of the large optical index n of the immersion medium as well as the increased excitation and collection angles [1]. Numerical aperture increasing lens (NAIL) microscopy is an application of the SIL technique to integrated circuit (IC) imaging [2]. A silicon NAIL placed on the backside of a silicon substrate effectively transforms the NAIL and the planar sample into an integrated SIL. This imaging scheme allows for high resolution backside imaging through the substrate of an IC which is often necessary because opaque interconnect metal layers hinder frontside optical microscopy [2], [3], [4]. Focusing under the high NA conditions provided by the NAIL enables us to observe the effects of polarization and dielectric interfaces in the focal region. Enhanced contrast and ellipticity of the focal spot induced by the linearly polarized illumination are common results for this geometry [5], [6], [7]. In this study, we demonstrate that the longitudinal focusing parameters are also different for the directions parallel and perpendicular to the polarization direction in the vicinity of a dielectric interface. We theoretically show that the tightest spot on the interface occurs at two different focusing depths for two orthogonal directions. Experimental results validating the theoretical predictions are exhibited employing confocal microscopy of ICs.

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“…1(c)-1(e). The polarization distribution and the elliptical shape of the intensity at the focus of a high N A objective have been previously used to obtain nanoscale resolution [26].…”

Section: Theoretical and Numerical Formalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-diffraction discrimination with polarization-resolved two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy

Artigas

Merino

Polzer

et al. 2017

Optica

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Imaging molecular structures separated by distances of a few nanometers still represents a complex challenge. Moreover, it is normally restricted to observations on thin (few micrometers) samples. In this work, we rotate the polarization of the excitation beam of two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) images to show that fluorescent structures at the molecular scale can be discriminated in a living organism. The polarization rotation generates a modulation of the signal intensity in each pixel of the TPEF images that carry information related to the fluorophore orientation. We analyze the signal modulation in every pixel of the polarization-resolved (PR) TPEF images through a Fourier analysis and generate images for the different Fourier components. Doing that, we show that two fluorophores oriented in different directions can be distinguished. Although by imaging the Fourier components the resolution of the optical system restricts the exact localization of two close molecules, discrimination is still possible even when the molecules are located at sub-diffraction distances. We propose a model that predicts this behavior, and demonstrate it experimentally in the neurons of a living Caenorhabditis elegans nematode, where we distinguish the walls of an axon with a diameter below the objective resolution. Since the technique is based in TPEF, the method can be extended to deep tissue imaging and has potential applications in single molecule detection, biological sensors, or super-resolution imaging techniques.

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Nanoscale Optical Microscopy in the Vectorial Focusing Regime

Cited by 20 publications

References 4 publications

Subsurface microscopy of multilayered integrated circuits

Subsurface microscopy of multilayered integrated circuits

Focusing anomalies in the vicinity of dielectric interfaces

Sub-diffraction discrimination with polarization-resolved two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy

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