Hiroshi ISHIWATA^*, Hiroki NAGAI, Toshihisa NAKA, and Masahide ITOH

Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 308-8573, Japan

(Received September 18, 2009; Accepted February 4, 2010)

To realize high-precision and wide-field measurements in retardation-modulated differential interference contrast (RM-DIC) microscope, we developed a new technique to stitch plural images taken by a high-magnification objective lens with attention paid to the high edge detection ability of the RM-DIC microscope. We showed some experimental results with grating samples and made sure that the developed new method had good performance for widening the measurement field of the RM-DIC microscope.

Key words: differential interference contrast, microscope, phase measurement, Nomarski, stitching, cross correlation

^*E-mail address: h{_}ishiwata@ot.olympus.co.jp