The miniaturization of light detectors in the visible and infrared has produced devices with micrometric and sub-micrometric spatial features. Some of these spatial features are closely linked with the physical mechanism of detection. An example of these devices is an optical antennas. To spatially characterize optical antennas it is necessary to scan a probe beam on the plane of the optical antenna. The mapping of this response is then treated and analyzed. When the response of the antenna is monitorized at visible or near-infrared frequencies, a sub-micron scanning step is necessary. In this paper we show the experimental set-up of a measurement station having a spatial resolution of 50 nanometers. This station is devoted to spatially characterize micrometric detectors, and specially optical antennas. The origin of the uncertainties of the measurement protocol is shown and practically analyzed. This station is also applied for characterizing the temporal, spectral, and polarization sensitivity specifications of light detectors with the previously mentioned resolution.

Date Published: 5 August 2004
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 5407, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XV, (5 August 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.543979

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5407:
Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XV
Gerald C. Holst, Editor(s)