Deconvolution of local surface response from topography in nanometer profilometry with a dual-scan method

Opt Lett. 1999 Dec 1;24(23):1732-4. doi: 10.1364/ol.24.001732.

Abstract

In profilometric measurements, by scanning the sample twice with a fixed vertical offset, one can separate the signal that comes from surface heterogeneity from the topographic signal. Using differential confocal microscopy, a newly developed open-loop nanometer profilometric technique, we demonstrated this dual-scan method on composite samples and obtained 10-nm depth resolution. This technique can also be applied to other profilometric techniques such as atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy.