Shape Measurement Method of Two-Dimensional Micro-Structures beyond the Diffraction Limit Based on Speckle Interferometry

Abstract

A technique based on speckle interferometry for observing microstructures beyond the diffraction limit by detecting the spatial phase distribution of scattered light from microstructures has previously been reported. In this study, the development of this technique using a two-dimensional method is discussed. In order to observe general two-dimensional images, development of new technology in several stages is required. A two-dimensional filtering technique to reduce the noise component and a two-dimensional integration path to detect the three-dimensional shape of the surface are described in detail. As a first step toward observing complex two-dimensional structures in the future, it is investigated that directional two-dimensional information such as fibrous materials and micro-linear structures can be visually captured and treated as meaningful two-dimensional structures. As a result, it is shown that it is possible to observe fine two-dimensional letters with a line width of 100 nm, which is beyond the diffraction limit of the objective lens, demonstrating the effectiveness of the observation technique for microstructures by phase detection.