Detecting nanoscale perturbations using new forms of optical microscopy

In this talk, I will discuss several new forms of optical microscopy that my group developed in recent years. Our goal was to recover tiny nanoscale features using a conventional microscope. This problem is challenging because of the low signal to noise ratio for such features. In the first method, we introduced the regularized pseudo-phase and used it to measure nanoscale defects, minute amounts of tilt in patterned samples, and severely noise-polluted nanostructure profiles in optical images. We also extended the method to study the dynamics of droplet condensation using environmental scanning electron microscopy. In the second method, we built upon electrodynamic principles (mechanical work and force) of the light-matter interaction and applied it to sense sub-10 nm wide perturbations. In the third method, we introduced the concepts of electromagnetic canyons and non-resonance amplification using nanowires and applied these concepts to directly view individual perturbations (25-nm radius = λ/31) in a nanoscale volume.