Coherence scanning interferometry
Coherence scanning interferometry (CSI) is like taking a picture of a tiny object with a special camera.
Imagine you have a toy car and you want to take a picture of its wheels to see how smooth they are. Normal cameras won't work because the wheels are too tiny. That's where CSI comes in.
CSI uses a special light that shines on the wheels and reflects back to a camera. But this light is different from the light in your room - it has a special property called coherence. That means all the light waves in the beam are in sync with each other.
When the coherent light shines on the wheels, some of it bounces back to the camera in a straight path, but some of it reflects off the surface of the wheel and changes direction. When these two beams of light meet back at the camera, they create an interference pattern.
The camera looks at this pattern and uses it to make a map of the surface of the wheel. Just like how Google Maps makes a map of the Earth's surface using satellite images.
CSI can make these maps with incredible detail, showing things like tiny bumps or scratches on the surface of the wheel. Scientists and engineers use CSI to study all kinds of small objects like computer chips, lenses, and even human cells.
Imagine you have a toy car and you want to take a picture of its wheels to see how smooth they are. Normal cameras won't work because the wheels are too tiny. That's where CSI comes in.
CSI uses a special light that shines on the wheels and reflects back to a camera. But this light is different from the light in your room - it has a special property called coherence. That means all the light waves in the beam are in sync with each other.
When the coherent light shines on the wheels, some of it bounces back to the camera in a straight path, but some of it reflects off the surface of the wheel and changes direction. When these two beams of light meet back at the camera, they create an interference pattern.
The camera looks at this pattern and uses it to make a map of the surface of the wheel. Just like how Google Maps makes a map of the Earth's surface using satellite images.
CSI can make these maps with incredible detail, showing things like tiny bumps or scratches on the surface of the wheel. Scientists and engineers use CSI to study all kinds of small objects like computer chips, lenses, and even human cells.