A polarization holographic microscope system is disclosed. The polarization holographic microscope system can acquire a birefringence image and a three-dimensional phase image with high sensitivity by aperture synthesis of sample beams at various angles, and a sample image acquisition method using the microscope system.

Provided is a holographic microscope including an input optical system configured to emit polarized input beam, a first beam splitter configured to emit an object beam by reflecting a portion of the polarized input beam, and emit a reference beam by transmitting a remaining portion of the polarized input beam, a reference optical system configured to separate the reference beam into a first reference beam and a second reference beam, a camera configured to receive the first reference beam and the second reference beam and the object beam that is reflected by an inspection object, the camera including a micro polarizer array, wherein a first polarization axis of the first reference beam is perpendicular to a second polarization axis of the second reference beam.

An optical measurement system comprises a polarization beam splitter for dividing an incident beam into a reference beam and a measurement beam, a first beam splitter for reflecting the measurement beam to form a first reflected measurement beam, a spatial light modulator for modulating the first reflected measurement beam to form a modulated measurement beam, a condenser lens for focusing the modulated measurement beam to an object to form a penetrating measurement beam, an objective lens for converting the penetrating measurement beam into a parallel measurement beam, a mirror for reflecting the parallel measurement beam to form an object beam, a second beam splitter for reflecting the reference beam to a path coincident with that of the object beam, and a camera for receiving an interference signal generated by the reference beam and the object beam to generate an image of the object.

Disclosed is a method and associated apparatus for measuring a characteristic of interest relating to a structure on a substrate. The method comprises calculating a value for the characteristic of interest directly from the effect of the characteristic of interest on at least the phase of illuminating radiation when scattered by the structure, subsequent to illuminating said structure with said illuminating radiation.

A method for defect inspection of a transparent substrate comprises utilizing a wavefront reconstruction unit to obtain complex defect diffraction wavefront of a transparent substrate; using a complex defect diffraction module to confirm the effective diffraction distance of the complex defect diffraction wavefront; utilizing a defect detection module to detect position of the defect of the transparent substrate; using a defect classification module to perform extraction, analysis and classification of diffraction characteristics and utilizing a machine learning algorithm or a deep learning algorithm to automatically identify the defects.

An apparatus and method are disclosed for actinic inspection of semiconductor masks intended for extended ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, or similar objects, with feature sizes less than 100 nm. The approach uses a coherent light source with wavelength less than 120 nm. Inside a vacuum system, an optical system directs the light to an object, i.e., the mask or mask blank, and directs the resulting reflected or transmitted light to an imaging sensor. A computational system processes the imaging sensor data to generate phase and amplitude images of the object. The preferred imaging modality, a form of digital holography, produces images of buried structures and phase objects, as well as amplitude or reflectance images, with nanometer resolution less than or equal to the feature size of the mask.

Example embodiments relate to an integrated lens-free imaging device. One embodiment includes a lens-free imaging device for imaging a sample. The lens-free imaging device includes a radiation guiding structure that includes a first surface parallel with a second surface. The lens-free imaging device also includes an imaging region. The radiation guiding structure is adapted for receiving an incoming radiation wave, thereby obtaining a confined radiation wave. At least one perturbation is present in the radiation guiding structure for generating, from the confined radiation wave, a first radiation wave and a second radiation wave. The radiation guiding structure is configured to direct the first radiation wave out of the radiation guiding structure toward the first surface to a sample measurement region. The radiation guiding structure is further configured to direct the second radiation wave toward the second surface to the imaging region.

Provided is a super-resolution holographic microscope including a light source configured to emit input light, a diffraction grating configured to split the input light into first diffracted light and second diffracted light, a mirror configured to reflect the first diffracted light, a wafer stage arranged on an optical path of the second diffracted light and on which a wafer is configured to be arranged, and a camera configured to receive the first diffracted light that is reflected by the mirror and the second diffracted light that is reflected by the wafer to generate a plurality of hologram images of the wafer.

An imaging flow cytometer device includes a housing holding a multi-color illumination source configured for pulsed or continuous wave operation. A microfluidic channel is disposed in the housing and is fluidically coupled to a source of fluid containing objects that flow through the microfluidic channel. A color image sensor is disposed adjacent to the microfluidic channel and receives light from the illumination source that passes through the microfluidic channel. The image sensor captures image frames containing raw hologram images of the moving objects passing through the microfluidic channel. The image frames are subject to image processing to reconstruct phase and/or intensity images of the moving objects for each color. The reconstructed phase and/or intensity images are then input to a trained deep neural network that outputs a phase recovered image of the moving objects. The trained deep neural network may also be trained to classify object types.

Systems and methods for recording holographic gratings in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a holographic recording system including a first movable platform configured to support a first plurality of waveguide cells for exposure, at least one master grating, and at least one laser source configured to provide a set of recording beams by directing light towards the at least one master grating, wherein the first movable platform is translatable in predefined steps along at least one of two orthogonal directions, and wherein at each the predefined step at least one waveguide cell is positioned to be illuminated by at least one recording beam within the set of recording beams.