Applied Nanophotonics, Liquid Crystals and Biomedical Optics

A real-time phase shift interference microscopy system is presented using a polarization-based Linnik interferometer operating with three synchronized, phase-masked, parallel detectors. Using this method, several important applications that require high speed and accuracy, such as dynamic focusing control, tilt measurement, submicrometer roughness measurement, and 3D profiling of fine structures, are demonstrated in 50 volumes per second and with 2 nm height repeatability.