An Interference Microscope with a Low-Coherence Source and a Supersmooth Reference Mirror

Abstract

The design and principle of operation of a Linnik-scheme-based interference microscope with a low-coherent radiation source and a reference mirror in the form of a monoatomic silicon layer are described. The microscope is designed to measure the heights of the surface profiles of reflecting objects by the phase-shifting method and provides a measurement error of up to 0.6 Å. The results of experiments on measuring the heights of monoatomic silicon layers to determine the sensitivity and on balls of silicon dioxide to assess the temporal stability of measurements are presented.