The maximum slope that a microscope objective can measure is an important parameter characterizing the measurement capability of 3D optical microscopes. It is one of the most important criteria for selection of appropriate optical topography measuring instruments for areal surface texture measurements and the setting as well. In this article, a method is proposed using optically smooth spheres for characterization of the maximum measurable slope by optical topography measuring instruments with different objectives. The material measure and the measurement procedure are described and the method for the calculation of the measured sphere radius, the maximum measurable local slopes and characterization of the homogeneity of the slope transfer function within the FOV of the objective measured by a confocal microscope are presented.
Optical metrology faces significant challenges as functional devices continue to shrink in size due to new patterning processes for semiconductor chips. Consequently, there is a growing interest in modeling optical systems to achieve more accurate measurements and to compare measurements from different optical instruments, such as confocal microscopes, white light interference microscopes, and focus-varied microscopes. Previous models have employed either a thin layer approximation or 2D periodic structures to simulate light scattering. However, to accurately simulate more complex structures and compare them with experimental data, there is a need for a physically accurate modeling and simulation tool that can handle large-scale aperiodic 3D surfaces. To address this need, we have developed a simulation tool called SpeckleSim, which utilizes the boundary element method. By incorporating a multi-level fast multiple method, we are able to calculate light scattering from 3D nanostructures within a reasonable timeframe. In this report, we adapt the method to a confocal microscopy model and investigate the extent to which it can reproduce surface profiles for different types of structures. The obtained results will be compared with experimental measurements and the results from other rigorous simulation tools such as rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) method.
A reliable tool for simulations of confocal microscopes shall be developed to enable improved model-based dimensional metrology. To simulate measurements on rough surfaces the boundary element method (BEM) simulation tool SpeckleSim, developed by the ITO of the University of Stuttgart, is combined with a Fourier optics based image formation. SpeckleSim, which calculates the light-structure interaction by solving the Maxwell equations, is compared with the well-known FEM based solver JCMsuite and the FDTD based solver Ansys Lumerical. As an example, a rectangular shaped line is used as an object. Due to different boundary conditions the results show as expected small deviations, which require further investigations. First comparison results and the general concept of the image formation method will be presented.
Optical surface topography measuring instruments are used more and more widely for surface quality control in industry by enabling fast, areal and non-destructive surface topography measurements. However, due to the complexity of the interaction between the surface properties to be measured and the measuring system, their capability to accurately reproduce topographical features of a surface under test is quite often questionable. To understand and investigate the topographic measurement accuracy of different optical surface topography measuring instruments, a physical measurement standard has been developed at PTB which is intended to be used to determine the metrological characteristics of surface topography measuring instruments such as topographic spatial resolution and topography fidelity. The physical standard, fabricated by a diamond turning process, containing nine sinusoidal structures with different amplitudes from 50 nm to 10 μm and varying spatial wavelengths from 2.6 μm to 82.8 μm, is suitable for the characterization of optical instruments with different magnification and numerical apertures. The design of the chirp structures, including the wavelength series, the smallest wavelength for different amplitudes, the slope distribution and the layout are detailed in this paper. The tool path for accurately positioning the cutting tool in fabrication is also described. First measurement results of the instruments response in terms of the features’ aspect ratio, slopes and curvatures, the homogeneity of the field of view of a confocal microscope are presented.
The topography fidelity TFi indicates the accuracy of the estimation of the real surface, describes the instrument influenced deviation of a measured topography image and depends on the interaction of the surface topography with the instrument. To understand and investigate the topography fidelity of optical surface measurement instruments, and interference microscopes in particular, an analytical model based on the fraction of the total illumination criteria and a numerical model based on Richards-Wolf theory are used to characterize the topography fidelity of 3D optical microscopy. As reference artefacts step-like micro-structures with varying spatial frequency and therefore different aspect ratios are numerically investigated with the aforementioned models. To testify the feasibility of the numerical analysis, a commercial white light interference microscope has been employed to measure these reference artefacts. The relationship between the measured heights and the spatial frequency of the samples under investigation are detailed in this paper. The aspect ratio influences on measurement results predicted by the simulation models and the agreements with the experimental results are investigated and reported in detail.
Based upon the micro-fabrication technology, a series of MEMS scanning probe microscopes (MEMS-SPM) have been developed in the national metrology institute Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig. In comparison with those traditional AFMs, the MEMS-SPM features generally a vertical deflection up to 10 μm with a resolution of 0.2 nm, a non-linearity less than 0.03%, and a testing force up to several hundreds of μN with a force resolution down to 1 nN by means of a capacitive displacement sensing technique. As a result, these MEMS-SPMs can be successfully applied in the field of nanodimensional and nanomechanical metrology. Mechanical design of the MEMS-SPM is reported in this manuscript. Proof-of-principle measurements using a prototype of the MEMS-SPM are detailed in this manuscript, verifying the capabilities of the MEMS-SPM.
The paper summarize the PTB activities in the field of silicon sensors for dimensional metrology especially roughness measurements and silicon calibration standards developed during the past ten years. A focus lies in the development of 2D silicon microprobes which enable roughness measurements in nozzles as small as 100 μm in diameter. Moreover these microprobes offer the potential for very fast tactile measurements up to 15 mm/s due to their tiny mass and therefore small dynamic forces. When developing high precision tactile sensors care has to be taken, not to scratch the often soft surfaces. Small probing forces and well defined tip radii have to be used to avoid surface destruction. Thus probing force metrology and methods to determine the radius and form of probing tips have been developed. Silicon is the preferred material for the calibration of topography measuring instruments due to its excellent mechanical and thermal stability and due to the fabrication and structuring possibilities of silicon microtechnology. Depth setting standards, probing force setting standards, tip radius and tip form standards, reference springs and soft material testing artefacts will be presented.
In this paper the concept of an "active reference spring array (ARSA)" for the AFM cantilever normal spring constant calibration is proposed. The ARSA with nominal stiffness varying from 0.4 N/m to 150 N/m will be available on these arrays with the aim to calibrate the normal stiffness of cantilevers ranging from 0.04 N/m to 1500 N/m. The fabrication process of the MEMS ARSA on basis of the Bonding Deep RIE technology developed at Chemnitz University of Technology is reported. A first characterization of the MEMS and the traceable determination of the stiffness of the MEMS suspending system have been realized. First experimental results compare very well with the Finite Element (FE) simulation of the numerical design, and prove the feasibility of the proposed concept.
For the purpose of nondestructive determination of the mechanical properties of nano-scale materials including nanowires, nanoparticles, etc., an extended AFM-based materials testing method, the contact resonance force microscopy (CR-FM), is applied. This CR-FM method features high lateral (dimensional) resolution and low test force (down to subnanonewton). It can be employed for not only hard materials, but also soft materials or weak structures, like silicon nano-pillars. In this method, the elastic material properties are deduced by experimental measurement of the resonance frequency shift of an AFM cantilever before and after mechanical contact with the specimen under test. Numerical and analytical investigations of the key issues of this method, including (1) body stiffness of nanopillars, (2) tip-surface mechanical interaction and (3) theoretical measurement resolution, have been carried out, in order to prepare the design and the development of the experimental system. To improve the measurement uncertainty of this method, a MEMSbased cantilever stiffness calibration approach and an interferometric cantilever deflection measurement system have been developed.
Free-standing thin membranes have now been widely applied in various research and industrial fields. As one of the key parameters of thin membranes, the membrane thickness is demanded to be precisely determined. A traceable membrane thickness measurement system is presented in this paper. It utilizes a pair of micro-machined nano-force transducers to actively detect both surfaces of a free-standing micro-machined membrane. Thanks to the high force sensitivity (down to a few Nanonewton) and a relatively large movement range (up to 10 μm) of the MEMS transducers in use, the proposed thickness measurement micro-system is capable of measuring membranes with small open aperture and membrane thicknesses down to sub-100 nm. In addition, the in-plane movement of the MEMS-transducers is measured in real-time by a single-frequency laser interferometer with nanometric resolution, which is traceable to the SI unit. Numerical analysis of the tip-membrane mechanical contact at nano-scale has been undertaken, which guides the selection of appropriate stylus radius used for experiments. Design and construction of the miniature thickness measurement system are detailed in this paper, including the first measurement results, which prove the feasibility of the proposed measurement system.
In this paper a MEMS based micro-SPM head array is proposed to enhance the performance of the currently available
nano-measuring machines and effectively reduce the measurement time for large specimen. It consists of 1 × N ( N = 7
in our case) micro-SPM heads/units, realized in one chip by MEMS technique. And it can be easily extended to a micro-
SPM head matrix. The main part of the micro-SPM head is the MEMS-positioning stage, which is realized on the basis
of an electrostatic lateral comb-drive actuator. In order to take the advantage of the high lateral resolution of
conventional cantilevers, a flexible cantilever gripper was designed to be integrated into the MEMS-positioning stage
within the SPM head. Conventional cantilevers can be mechanically mounted onto the MEMS-positioning stage or
dismantled from the MEMS-positioning stage after the tip is worn out. In this way, the well-designed and calibrated
MEMS-positioning stage can be repeatedly and efficiently utilized. The structure design and simulation of mechanical
and electrical performances of the mico-SPM head will be detailed in this paper. First experimental results proved the
feasibility of the cantilever gripper design.
Electrostatic comb-drive actuators, which consists of two interdigitated finger structures with one fixed and the other
connected to a compliant suspension, are the most widely used micro actuators in micro-electro-mechanical
systems(MEMS). In the actuator applications, applying a voltage between the interdigitated fingers will generate a
relative displacement between the fixed and the movable comb structures. The capacitance of the comb-drive structures
will vary according to the variation of the relative displacement. The relationship between displacement and resulting
capacitance variation is linear. With this principle, the comb-drive structure is employed as a micro measuring probe in
this paper.
A main shaft connected with the movable comb structures protrudes out of the MEMS chip to sense the surface
topography of a specimen under test. A ruby sphere which is mounted onto the end of the actuator's main shaft is
employed as a tip. The displacement of the shaft will vary with the variation of the surface topography of the specimen.
Accordingly, the capacitance of the comb-drive structures will change. A capacitance readout circuit is designed to
convert the capacitance variation into a voltage variation. The results of the designed electronics will be presented. And a
drive and sensing system which consists of the micro measuring probe, the capacitance readout circuit, and computer
controlled piezoelectric stages is constructed to measure the surface topography of the specimen. To calibrate the drive
and sensing system, a standard step of 68nm is one-line scanned.
A novel MEMS based scanning head comprising an array of comb drive actuators is developed for parallel SPM
(Scanning Probe Microscope) imaging to enhance the performance of the currently available nano-measuring machines
and effectively reduce the measurement time for large specimen. The scanning-head consists of an row of seven scan
heads, which are realized on one chip by MEMS technology. The actuation of the scan-head is realized by an
electrostatic comb-drive, in which the displacement can be measured by detecting the capacitance change of the actuator.
The main shaft of the scan-head protrudes out of the MEMS chip to sense the surface topography of a specimen under
test. To further improve the lateral resolution of the micro-SPM head, an AFM tip can be mounted onto the end of the
actuator's main shaft. Design, simulation and fabrication of the scan-head array will be presented. The displacement of
the actuator was calibrated using a laser interferometer. The actuator has a good linearity. Mechanical performance such
as stiffness and eigenfrequency were also investigated. Preliminary experiments proved the feasibility of the scanninghead
array for large-scale topography measurements.
Rapid advances in nano-positioning/motion technology have offered metrologists in the field of precision engineering
larger and larger potential measurement range. A concept of micro-SPM head array is proposed in this paper to enhance
the performance of the currently available nano-measuring machines and effectively reduce the measurement time for
large specimen. The proposed micro-SPM head array consists of 1 × N ( N = 7 in our case) micro-SPM heads/units,
which are realized in one chip by MEMS technique. The kern of each SPM head is an electrostatic comb-drive actuator,
whose main shaft protrudes out of the MEMS chip to sense the surface topography of a specimen under test. To further
improve the lateral resolution of the micro-SPM head, an AFM tip can then be mounted onto the end of the actuator's
main shaft. To ensure the traceability of the measurement results from micro-SPM head, a fiber-based interferometer
array is considered to be integrated within the micro-SPM head array so as to in-situ calibrate the in-plane displacement
sensing system of the micro-SPM head. Design and simulation of the mico-SPM head array together with the
corresponding micro-interferometer will be detailed in this manuscript.
Accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of materials with micro-/nanoindentation methods demands precise
knowledge of tip geometry of the indenters in use. An optical microform calibration system for ball-shaped indenters,
and Rockwell indenter in particular, is therefore developed in Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The calibration
system is fundamentally realized on basis of an optical confocal microscope. By means of investigating the spherical
aberration introduced by the object under test, the calibration system has the capability to quantitatively determine the
averaging radius of a spherical body (up to 300 μm) with an uncertainty of ~ 6 x 10-3.
To apply the calibration system for characterization of a partial spherical object, e.g. a Rockwell indenter, a simple
method has been proposed to improve the possible resolution of the calibration system. The basic configuration of the
calibration system and preliminary experimental results are detailed in this paper. Further extension of the functionality
of the calibration system is outlined.
Nanoindentation testing has proved to be an effective tool to determine the mechanical properties of small volumes of
materials applied in various micro-systems, including hardness, indentation modulus, creep and so on. Nowadays, with
the help of advanced numerical methods, especially the finite element analysis (FEA) technique, further mechanical
properties of the material under test (e.g. tensile strength, etc.) can be interpreted from the typical indentation curve.
However, the reliability and accuracy of these analytical models have to be well tested.
Recently, the deformed topography of the interlayer surface within the tip-film-substrate system has been proposed to be
the reference for the evaluation of FEA and other mathematic models for indentation testing. Here an in-situ interlayer
deformation imaging system based on differential confocal microscopy is therefore developed, which has the capability
to measure in-situ the real-time topography deformation within a layered specimen during nanoindentation testing.
By means of linear regression and interpolation of the linear region of the standard confocal microscopy, differential
confocal microscopy (DCM) can achieve a very high resolution for topography measurements. However, the actual
capability and measurement uncertainty of DCM would be subject to those common-mode error sources like surface
heterogeneity, intensity fluctuation of the light source, etc. In this paper an improved DCM is proposed, which
introduces an additional point detector to the conventional DCM, creating dual confocal signals with slight relative axial
shifting. The real topography of the surface under test can then be easily deconvoluted from the dual differential signals,
whilst the common-mode errors within the measurement are eliminated.
A prototype was developed and applied for measuring a step-height composed of two different materials and for in-situ
inspection of the interlayer deformation during nanoindentation testing. Preliminary experimental results verify the
feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method.
Nowadays microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have found more and more applications in various fields of
industry and scientific researches. In the meantime, quality control to MEMS devices and equipment gains more and
more importance, in which one of the important tasks is to characterize the in-plane behaviours of MEMS, including the
in-plane displacement/deflection/deformation, vibration amplitude, resonant frequency, etc. However, due to the special
characteristics of MEMS device, this task cannot be fulfilled easily with high resolution and wide bandwidth. In order to
calibrate and to further improve the performance of MEMS actuators and sensors, in this paper, inspection of in-plane
displacement of MEMS on the basis of an atomic force microscope is discussed, in which the lateral interaction between
an AFM cantilever and a electrostatic actuator is investigated, and its potential application to determine the dynamic
behaviour of a MEMS actuators/sensors is demonstrated.
The experimental method of micro-/nanotensile testing for extracting the mechanical properties of small volumes of
materials ( e.g. free-standing thin films) has gained more and more interest, since it provides an effective way to evaluate
the actual material properties without any pre-assumptions, and consequently its results can be used as a reference for
verifying other material testing methods such as nanoindentation testing, laser acoustic method, etc. As one of the key
components within a nano-tensile testing system, here a MEMS-based nano-force actuator is presented, which is
developed on the basis of an electrostatic lateral comb-drive, having an output force resolution up to 3 nN with a
maximum output force up to the mN range. A fixed gripper is integrated into the nano-force actuator, with which a free-standing
thin film specimen with matched holder can be easily coupled and tested. Design and numerical simulation of
the nano-force actuator with the help of finite element analysis (FEA) are detailed. A calibration system is developed,
which employs a single-frequency laser interferometer as an SI-traceable standard for the determination of the actual
displacement-to-square-voltage ratio (d/V2) of a prototype of the actuator. Calibration results reveal that the actual
performance of the prototype coincides quite well with the designed specifications. With atomic force microscope
(AFM) the error sources within the prototype are further investigated.
Modern technology development requires interferometry of uttermost quality, which is characterized as high measurement speed, large measurement range, low drift and super-high resolution, good accuracy and efficiency. Firstly this paper introduces a frequency stabilized laser with 5MHz beat frequency which is based on the bi-reflection principle, and a high measurement speed dual-frequency laser interferometer whose allowable displacement velocity is over 1m/s using this kind of laser. Secondly it introduces a transverse Zeeman frequency stabilized laser with 300KHz beat frequency and its applications in nanometer measurement, collimation, coaxiality measurement, roll angle measurement and biomembrane measurement. Thirdly a tunable 633nm external-cavity diode laser (ECL) interferometer is presented.
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