Sarfus technology is a powerful new optical quantitative imaging technique that creates highly precise three-dimensional thickness, roughness, profile and step height measurements at the nanometer scale.

The technique is based on the perfect control of the reflection properties of polarized light on a Surf (specific supporting plates where the sample is deposited), which leads to an increase in the axial sensitivity of the optical microscope by a factor approximately 100 without reducing lateral resolution.

The resulting high-contrast images allow direct observation of nanometric thickness films or nanometric-diameter objects. Two-dimensional images can be converted into highly precise 3-D metrological images with dimensional accuracy of <1 nm. Roughness, profile extraction and step height measurements are also easily imaged.

Current and potential applications include thin films and surface treatment studies, characterizing layer homogeneity of organic steps, direct visualization and height deposition measurements of plasma, dynamic studies of crystallization and wetting, biomedical studies, direct behavior and morphology characterization of nanotubes and nanowires, and direct visualization of nanolithography patterns with quality control of the deposition process.

Sarfus technology can be integrated onto an existing microscope with a plug-and-play solution or purchased as part of a total acquisition system.

Start a discussion on this article or any photonics topic in the Photonics.com Community Forum