Feasibility demonstration of a massively parallelizable optical near-field sensor for sub-wavelength defect detection and imaging

1Citations
Citations of this article
7Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

To detect and resolve sub-wavelength features at optical frequencies, beyond the diffraction limit, requires sensors that interact with the electromagnetic near-field of those features. Most instruments operating in this modality scan a single detector element across the surface under inspection because the scattered signals from a multiplicity of such elements would end up interfering with each other. However, an alternative massively parallelized configuration, capable of interrogating multiple adjacent areas of the surface at the same time, was proposed in 2002. Full physics simulations of the photonic antenna detector element that enables this instrument, show that using conventional red laser light (in the 600 nm range) the detector magnifies the signal from an 8 nm particle by up to 1.5 orders of magnitude. The antenna is a shaped slot element in a 60 nm silver film. The ability of this detector element to resolve λ/78 objects is confirmed experimentally at radio frequencies by fabricating an artificial material structure that mimics the optical permittivity of silver scaled to 2 GHz, and "cutting" into it the slot antenna. The experimental set-up is also used to demonstrate the imaging of a patterned surface in which the critical dimensions of the pattern are λ/22 in size.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Mostafavi, M., & Diaz, R. E. (2016). Feasibility demonstration of a massively parallelizable optical near-field sensor for sub-wavelength defect detection and imaging. Scientific Reports, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26172

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free