Micro and nanophotonics Instrumentation

P. Montgomery, F. Anstotz, D. Montaner, F. Salzenstein, N. Javahiraly, R. Kiefer, S. Lecler, P. Pfeiffer, P. Twardowski

This theme concerns work that contributes to the miniaturisation of photonic devices so as to be able to insert them into measurement microsystems or laser surface microstructuring processes. It concerns in particular :

• the design and fabrication of subwavelength diffractive optical elements
• the detection of nanoparticles using photonic jets
• the development of microstructured fibre optic sensors based on photonic crystals or on the Sagnac effect
• the measurement of parameters such as distance with high resolution
• micro- and nanothermography

interferometric microscopy

Scanning interference microscopy is a powerful technique based on far field imaging and interferometry that can be used for extracting information on micro- and nanostructures embedded in complex materials, devices and microsystems. Two topics are covered: 4D microscopy and techniques for complex layer analysis.

4D microscopy (3D+time) enables the 3D measurement in real time of surfaces that evolve over time, such as those found in soft materials, MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and chemical reactions.

The second topic addresses the challenges of using interferometry to measure thick, semi-transparent or translucent layers of materials such as hydroxyapatite (biomaterials), colloids and polymers. These techniques are also useful for characterising nanostructured photonic devices developed in the theme Photonics Modeling and Simulation.

• Principle

• 4D Microscopy

• Complex layers