Surface profile measurement using laser-scanning angle deviation microscopy

Laser-scanning angular deviation microscopy based on the small angle measurement using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phase detection technique is proposed. The phase shift coming from a SPR sensor is measured by a common-path heterodyne interferometry. This phase deviation is proportional to the beam converging or diverging angle, due to the specimen departing from the focal plane of objective lens. Using the phase deviations, one can calculate the surface profile by use of numerical method. The specimen could be scanned in real-time and the axial-resolution could be better than 1 nm.