NEWS 1 October 2019

Mikroniek: Large dynamic range atomic force microscope

The second part of the Optics Week, on 1-3 October 2019, was filled with the Optomechanical system design course.


In semiconductor manufacturing, the shrink following Moore’s law requires ever tighter overlay and registration between the different (material) layers. For accurately characterising this overlay and registration, TNO has developed a large dynamic range atomic force microscope demonstrator; the LDR-AFM can measure marker-to-feature distances over several millimeters with sub-nanometer reproducibility. This Mikroniek article describes a highly stable metrology concept and a 6-degrees-of-freedom positioning platform (hexapod) carrying an AFM scan head able to move the AFM probe tip. Repeatability measurements have demonstrated that both drift and reproducibility figures are well below the smallest feature size of the newest semiconductor processing nodes.


References

Lunch Lecture September hosted by…

Beam steering: 20x increase in angular range of plane mirror interferometers.

Read more
Wim van der Hoek Award…

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Wim van der Hoek Award, we will dive into history by posting interviews with previous winners.

Read more
Microcredentials – digital diplomas tracking…

An accredited proof of up-to-date knowledge without having to return to the classroom.

Read more