Topography of rough dielectric surfaces utilizing evanescent illumination

The authors utilize optical evanescent fields to analyze the topography of metallic and non metallic surfaces. The methodology initiated with the phenomenon of planar surface waves produced by surface plasmon polaritons. By direct experimental observations in 2009 the method was extended to ceramic surfaces in the micron and sub-micron range. Since the ceramics are dielectric materials the plasmon polariton model cannot explain the observed phenomena. For almost a century researchers have analyzed surface electromagnetic waves observed in planar interfaces that involve metallic surfaces, or metallic surfaces and dielectric media. These studies resulted in the theory of surface-plasmon waves and surface-plasmon-polariton waves. Additional planar surface waves are the so called Dyakonov waves, Tamm waves, and Dyakonov–Tamm waves. These waves were originally theoretically derived by M.I. Dyakonov about 25 years ago and were observed for the first time in 2009. The Dyakonov–Tamm waves are generated in the interface of two dielectric materials with periodic internal structures