Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - 36

surement errors are compounded by inaccuracies
in the fabrication process that
researchers use to make their calibration
standards, which also affects the placement
of the photonic components.
The NIST method, which the researchers
described in an article posted online
in Optica Quantum, identifies and corrects
such errors, which were previously overlooked.
The
team created two types of traceable
standards to calibrate optical microscopes
- first at room temperature to
analyze the fabrication process, and then
at cryogenic temperatures to measure the
location of quantum dots. Building on
their previous work, the room-temperature
standard consisted of an array of nanoscale
holes spaced a set distance apart
in a metal film.
The researchers then measured the
actual positions of the holes with an
atomic force microscope, ensuring that
the positions were traceable to the SI.
By comparing the apparent positions of
the holes as viewed by the optical microscope
with the actual positions, the researchers
assessed errors from magnification
calibration and image distortion
of the optical microscope. The calibrated
optical microscope could then be
used to rapidly measure other standards
that
the
researchers
fabricated, enabling
a statistical analysis of the accuracy
and variability of the process.
" Good statistics are essential to every
link in a traceability chain, " said Co-Author
Adam Pintar.
Extending their method to low temperatures,
the research team calibrated
an ultracold optical microscope for imaging
quantum dots. To perform this calibration,
the team created a new microscopy
standard - an array of pillars
fabricated on a silicon wafer. The scientists
worked with silicon because the
shrinkage of the material at low temperatures
has been accurately measured.
The researchers discovered several pitfalls
in calibrating the magnification of
cryogenic optical microscopes, which
tend to have worse image distortion than
microscopes operating at room temperature.
These optical imperfections bend
the images of straight lines into gnarled
curves that the calibration effectively
straightens out. If uncorrected, the image
distortion causes large errors in determining
the position of quantum dots and
in aligning the dots within targets, waveguides,
or other light-controlling devices.
The researchers developed a detailed
model of the measurement and fabrication
errors in integrating quantum dots
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024

Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - 1
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - 16A
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - Cov3
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - PIT-Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - PIT-Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - PIT-1
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2024 - PIT-Cov4
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