MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION WITH A SIMPLE LASER-SCANNING MICROSCOPE

The design of a computer-controlled laser scanning microscope is descr ibed. It is capable of inspecting a 1 mm x 1 mm area in less than 1 s with an optical resolution of 2 mum. Three applications of the laser s canning microscope are presented: the observation of the ferroelectric -domain structure of sodium nitrite layers, the observation of the spa tial distribution of the photocurrent in polycrystalline solar cells, and the observation of the lateral distribution of thermoelectric curr ents in a thermal IR detector for the determination of the thermal pro perties of its absorber foil.