A new approach has been used to measure nanometric displacements, referred to as the optical ruler.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.DFeb 8 2023Reviewed by Megan Craig, M.Sc. When designing materials and structures at the nanoscale, it is important to be able to characterize and measure them. Getting tools to measure on these very small length scales can be challenging as it often means performing very high-resolution imaging techniques such as electron microscopy or super-resolution optical microscopy.
In highly accurate metrological measurements, interferometers have become a staple tool. One of the most famous examples of an interferometer being used to detect incredibly small spatial displacements – 10-18 m – is the LIGO interferometer which is used to detect gravitational waves. There are many different interferometer designs, from the classic Michelson geometries to more complex Sagnac interferometers. What makes interferometers such powerful tools in metrology is the accuracy with which they can measure various parameters.For the optical rulers, the interferometer was capable of achieving a resolving power of better than 1 nm.2 This gives an overall resolving power of ~ λ/4000, which starts to open the possibilities of being able to resolve single atoms.
The overall device performed well against a more standard super-resolution metrology set-up consisting of a micrometer scale monolithic interferometer. The team is optimistic that their new device will offer superior performance as it is less affected by thermal and mechanical instabilities that larger interferometers are subject to.
As it becomes more straightforward to manufacture some of the specific metasurfaces required for the optical components used to shape light beams are required for these types of interferometers, it may be that optical rulers become something of a staple characterization method in the way dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy currently are.
Smith, D. J. . Ultimate resolution in the electron microscope? Materials Today, 11, 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-702170005-7
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