Development of a Microscopic 3-D Shape Measuring System Using Novel Liquid-Crystal Devices

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The purpose of this research project is to develop a new scheme of spectral interferometric microscopy that is free from mechanical moving components and can perform full-field 3-D shape measurement of microscopic objects with complex structures and height discontinuities exceeding the wavelength of light. The main accomplishments are summarized in the following :1. Design and Numerical Evaluation of Liquid-Crystal Fabry-Perot Interferometers (LC-FPIs)LC-FPIs with an extended tunable range of 40nm in the near IR region (which is suitable for spectral interferometry in combination with a SLD) were designed, and their improved performances were predicted by numerical simulations.2. Fabrication of LC-FPIs and Proposal of Their Tandem UseLC-FPIs were fabricated and their tandem use in spectral interferometry was proposed for effective improvement of the overall finesse value.3. Design and Construction of Spectral Interferometric MicroscopeA spectral interferometric microscope based on the combined use of an LC-FPI and a SLD (super luminescent diode) was designed and constructed.4. Development of Softwares for System Control and Data AcquisitionDedicated computer codes were developed for the wavelength tuning control of the LC-FPI that runs in synchronism to the fast image acquisition of the spectral interferograms.5. Experimental Demonstration and Evaluation of the Performance of the Spectral Interference MicroscopeSub-micron height resolution of the developed spectral interference microscope was demonstrated using a 3-D micro structure with 1μm and 11μm height steps fabricated on a silicon wafer.