Quantitative Zernike phase-contrast microscopy by use of structured birefringent pupil-filters and phase-shift evaluation

Michael Totzeck; Norbert Kerwien; Alexander V. Tavrov; Eva Rosenthal; Hans J. Tiziani

doi:10.1117/12.472223

20 June 2002 Quantitative Zernike phase-contrast microscopy by use of structured birefringent pupil-filters and phase-shift evaluation

Michael Totzeck, Norbert Kerwien, Alexander V. Tavrov, Eva Rosenthal, Hans J. Tiziani

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4777, Interferometry XI: Techniques and Analysis; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472223
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2002, Seattle, WA, United States

Abstract

Zernike phase-contrast is a well known and a often used method for the visualization of phase-structures. Because it applies a fixed phase-shift between the zero'th order and the scattered field, quantitative phase-measurements are only possible for small phase-shifts but not for arbitrary ones. The basic idea of the presented generalization of the method is to use polarization-optical pupil-filters for a separation of the zero'th from the higher orders in combination with phase-shifting polarization interferometry: In the simplest version, a drilled half-wave retarder is used in connection with linearly polarized illumination. This pupil-filter rotates the polarization of the scattered field by (pi) /2 while the dc-term is unaffected because it traverses the hole. The transmitted field is analyzed by phase-shifting polarization-interferometry: Using a liquid-crystal phase shifter (LCPS), both components can be phase-shifted relative to each other; they interfere at a subsequent analyzer. By means of a signal-evaluation according to phase-shifting interferometry, the complex amplitude of the scattered field can be determined relative to the dc-term enabling a computation of the complete field's phase. The method works for general complex objects. The applications we consider are in the field of microstructure inspection.

Citation Download Citation

Michael Totzeck, Norbert Kerwien, Alexander V. Tavrov, Eva Rosenthal, and Hans J. Tiziani "Quantitative Zernike phase-contrast microscopy by use of structured birefringent pupil-filters and phase-shift evaluation", Proc. SPIE 4777, Interferometry XI: Techniques and Analysis, (20 June 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472223

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