Georgia Tech inventors have created a displacement sensor that employs an electromagnetic radiation source that generates a beam of electromagnetic radiation for measuring a feature of an object. The displacement sensor includes a displacement probe, a multi-dimensional diffraction grating, and a plurality of photon detectors. A reflection surface, which is changed when the probe interacts with the object, interacts with the beam from the electromagnetic radiation source and reflects a beam from the reflection surface. The multi-dimensional diffraction grating interacts with the reflected beam and generates a pattern of diffracted beams. Each photon detector senses a different diffracted beam, thereby providing information about the state of the probe.
- Can isolate the central region of a diffraction spot from its respective fringes
- Creates ideal diffraction patterns
- Commercial probe microscopes
Beam deflection is the most common detection method used in modern commercial probe microscopes because of its simplicity and versatility. Traditionally, beam deflection requires a force-sensing structure, probe tip, light source, and photodetector. A recent modification to the beam-deflection method is to insert a diffraction grating into the path of the beam and measure angular displacement of diffraction spots rather than angular displacement of the reflected incident beam.