SBIR Phase I: NM/N5: A Fast, Wide-Field Nano-Precision Metrology Microscope Using a Time-Multiplexed and Multi-Frequency Synchronous Detection

SBIR 第一阶段：NM/N5：使用时分复用和多频同步检测的快速、宽视场纳米精密计量显微镜

• 批准号: 1013289
• 负责人: Tetsuo Ohara
• 金额: $ 13.52万
• 依托单位: NanoWave
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1013289&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; NM; N5; Fast

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the feasibility of transforming a wide-field optical microscope into a real-time imaging/metrology system. The system will have a spatial resolution better than 10 nanometers, when used as a wide-field optical microscope, and better than 1 Angstrom when used as a position tracker for nanoscale particles. Recent progress reaching effective resolutions below the Rayleigh diffraction limit of ~200 nm has spurred research in the fields of medical imaging and micro metrology. However, these optical microscopes and interferometers rely on a temporal image formed on an image sensor for the intensity and phase map calculation, which makes it difficult to isolate the measurement from vibration and other noise. In order to mitigate this issue, we will develop a system which integrates (1) an active optoelectronic mixing method to provide fast, synchronous phase-amplitude detection within a single frame acquisition time with high signal-to-noise and dynamic range, (2) a picometer-resolution motion scanner for precise active positioning of the pixel and/or structured illumination pattern with real-time super-resolution image reconstruction and (3) a real-time signal processing engine to solve the complicated inverse filter problem, to allow fast processing and better image resolution.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to provide an economical add-on solution to optical microscopes to enhance observation and metrology performance to a level which is comparable to much more expensive electron microscopy or scanning probe systems. The resulting add-on system will allow many researchers and industrial users to significantly enhance their existing optical microscopes' performance at a fraction of the cost of conventional high-resolution imaging systems. The proposed system is expected to increase imaging productivity for manufacturing process evaluation and quality inspection in the fields of biomedical science, semiconductor devices, data storage and optical components. The new imaging capability, integrated with a quantitative phase measurement capability, is not only useful for life science (for example, for understanding system behavior at the molecular level in living cells), but also vital for inspecting and measuring surface parameters and nanoscale particle behavior for semiconductor manufacturers, makers of high precision optical components, and others involved in the fabrication and inspection of nanoscale materials and systems.

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将确定将宽视场光学显微镜转化为实时成像/计量系统的可行性。当用作宽视场光学显微镜时，该系统的空间分辨率将优于10纳米，当用作纳米级粒子的位置跟踪器时，该系统的空间分辨率将优于1埃。近年来在瑞利衍射极限~ 200nm以下的有效分辨率方面取得的进展促进了医学成像和显微测量领域的研究。然而，这些光学显微镜和干涉仪依赖于图像传感器上形成的时间图像来进行强度和相位图的计算，这使得很难将测量与振动和其他噪声隔离开来。为了缓解这一问题，我们将开发一种系统，该系统集成了：(1)有源光电混合方法，在单帧采集时间内提供快速、同步的相位幅度检测，具有高信噪比和动态范围；(2)一个皮米分辨率的运动扫描仪，用于像素和/或结构化照明图案的精确主动定位，实时超分辨率图像重建；(3)一个实时信号处理引擎，解决复杂的反滤波问题，实现快速处理和更好的图像分辨率。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为光学显微镜提供一种经济的附加解决方案，以提高观察和计量性能，达到可与更昂贵的电子显微镜或扫描探针系统相媲美的水平。由此产生的附加系统将允许许多研究人员和工业用户以传统高分辨率成像系统的一小部分成本显著提高他们现有的光学显微镜的性能。该系统预计将提高生物医学科学、半导体器件、数据存储和光学元件领域制造过程评估和质量检查的成像生产率。新的成像能力与定量相位测量能力相结合，不仅对生命科学有用（例如，了解活细胞分子水平上的系统行为），而且对于半导体制造商，高精度光学元件制造商以及其他涉及纳米材料和系统制造和检测的制造商来说，检测和测量表面参数和纳米级粒子行为也至关重要。