Visualizing nanometric structures with sub-millimeter waves

Alonso Ingar Romero, Amlan kusum Mukherjee (), Anuar Fernandez Olvera, Mario Méndez Aller and Sascha Preu ()
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Alonso Ingar Romero: Technical University of Darmstadt
Amlan kusum Mukherjee: Technical University of Darmstadt
Anuar Fernandez Olvera: Technical University of Darmstadt
Mario Méndez Aller: Technical University of Darmstadt
Sascha Preu: Technical University of Darmstadt

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The resolution along the propagation direction of far field imagers can be much smaller than the wavelength by exploiting coherent interference phenomena. We demonstrate a height profile precision as low as 31 nm using wavelengths between 0.375 mm and 0.5 mm (corresponding to 0.6 THz–0.8 THz) by evaluating the Fabry-Pérot oscillations within surface-structured samples. We prove the extreme precision by visualizing structures with a height of only 49 nm, corresponding to 1:7500 to 1:10000 vacuum wavelengths, a height difference usually only accessible to near field measurement techniques at this wavelength range. At the same time, the approach can determine thicknesses in the centimeter range, surpassing the dynamic range of any near field measurement system by orders of magnitude. The measurement technique combined with a Hilbert-transform approach yields the (optical) thickness extracted from the relative phase without any extraordinary wavelength stabilization.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27264-x

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