Synonyms
Definition
Optical techniques are that using light to inspect or characterize the materials. Nanostructures are a material or a combination of materials limited in size at least in one direction of the space. It is generally accepted that the size of a single nanostructure must be below 100 nm.
Overview
This entry is devoted to the description of the main optical techniques used in the characterization of nanostructures in general, and, in particular, of semiconductor nanostructures. Most of these techniques have been used in the characterization of bulk materials over the years and the basic principles are widely described in many textbooks. The main variation when they are applied to the characterization of nanostructures is the insertion of a confocal microscope or the combination of optical microscopy with atomic force microscopy (AFM). The wavelength of the light in the so-called optical region ranges from the near ultraviolet (UV), 180–400 nm...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Born, M., Wolf, E.: Principles of Optics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999)
Garini, Y., Vermolen, B.J., Young, I.T.: From micro to nano: recent advances in high-resolution microscopy. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 16, 1–10 (2005)
Richards, D.: Near-field microscopy: throwing light on the nanoworld. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 361, 2843–2857 (2003)
Losurdo, M., et al.: Spectroscopic ellipsometry and polarimetry for materials and systems analysis at the nanometer scale: state-of-the-art, potential, and perspectives. J. Nanopart. Res. 11, 1521–1554 (2009)
Azzam, R.M.A., Bashara, N.M.: Ellipsometry and Polarized Light. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1987)
Yu, P.Y., Cardona, M.: Fundamentals of Semiconductors, 4th edn. Springer, Berlin (2010)
Dierre, B., Yuan, X., Sekiguchi, T.: Low-energy cathodoluminescence microscopy for the characterization of nanostructures. Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater. 11, 043001 (2010)
Vasa, P., Roper, C., Pomraenke, R., Lineau, C.: Ultra-fast nano-optics. Laser Photon. Rev. 3, 483–507 (2009)
Rousseau, D.L., Bauman, R.P., Porto, S.P.S.: Normal mode determination in crystals. J. Raman Spectr. 10, 253–290 (1981)
Garro, N., Cros, A., García-Cristóbal, A., Cantarero, A.: Optical and vibrational properties of self-assembled GaN quantum dots. In: Henini, M. (ed.) Handbook of Self Assembled Semiconductor Nanostructures for Novel Devices in Photonics and Electronics, pp. 232–272. Elsevier, Amsterdam (2008)
Cantarero, A., et al.: Optical properties of nitride nanostructures. Ann. Phys. 523, 51–61 (2011)
Silberberg, Y.: Quantum coherent control for nonlinear spectroscopy and microscopy. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 60, 277–292 (2009)
Yeo, B.S., Stadler, J., Schmid, T., Zenobi, R., Zhang, W.: Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy – Its status, challenges and future directions. Chem. Phys. Lett. 472, 1–13 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Cantarero, A. (2012). Optical Techniques for Nanostructure Characterization. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9751-4_242
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9751-4_242
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9750-7
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9751-4
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics