Abstract
Functional materials are challenging to characterize because of the presence of small structures and inhomogeneous materials. If interference microscopy was initially developed for use for the optical profilometry of homogeneous, static surfaces, it has since been considerably improved in its capacity to measure a greater variety of samples and parameters. This review presents our own contributions to extending the usefulness of interference microscopy. For example, 4D microscopy allows real-time topographic measurement of moving or changing surfaces. High-resolution tomography can be used to characterize transparent layers; local spectroscopy allows the measurement of local optical properties; and glass microspheres improve the lateral resolution of measurements. Environmental chambers have been particularly useful in three specific applications. The first one controls the pressure, temperature, and humidity for measuring the mechanical properties of ultrathin polymer films; the second controls automatically the deposition of microdroplets for measuring the drying properties of polymers; and the third one employs an immersion system for studying changes in colloidal layers immersed in water in the presence of pollutants. The results of each system and technique demonstrate that interference microscopy can be used for more fully characterizing the small structures and inhomogeneous materials typically found in functional materials.