Optical three-dimensional vibrometer microscope with picometer-resolution in x, y, and z

The state-of-the-art technique for optical vibration analysis of macroscopic structures is laser-Doppler vibrometry in which a single-laser beam measures the motion in the beam direction. Thus, three laser beams are necessary to investigate three-dimensional (3-D) motions. The laser spots can be separated on macroscopic specimens with scattering surfaces to prevent optical crosstalk between the measurement beams, but such separation is impossible for a microscopic scatter point. We demonstrate a solution for this problem: an optical 3-D vibrometer microscope with a single-impinging laser beam, which collects scattered light from at least three directions. We prove that it is possible to realize a small laser focus of <3.5-μm diameter on a proper scatter point such as an etch hole of a microelectromechanical-systems device to obtain real-time, 3-D vibration measurements with megahertz vibration bandwidth and picometer amplitude resolution. A first measurement of operational-deflection shapes is presented.