Toward nanometer accuracy measurements

John Kramar; Edward Amatucci; David E. Gilsinn; Jau-Shi Jay Jun; William B. Penzes; Fredric Scire; E. Clayton Teague; John S. Villarrubia

doi:10.1117/12.350791

14 June 1999 Toward nanometer accuracy measurements

John Kramar, Edward Amatucci, David E. Gilsinn, Jau-Shi Jay Jun, William B. Penzes, Fredric Scire, E. Clayton Teague, John S. Villarrubia

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3677, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIII; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.350791
Event: Microlithography '99, 1999, Santa Clara, CA, United States

Abstract

We at NIST are building a metrology instrument called the Molecular Measuring Machine (MMM) with the goal of performing 2D point-to-point measurements with one nanometer accuracy cover a 50 mm by 50 mm area. The instrument combines a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to probe the surface and a Michelson interferometer system to measure the probe movement, both with sub-nanometer resolution. The instrument also feature millidegree temperature control at 20 degrees C, an ultra-high vacuum environment with a base pressure below 10^-5 Pa, and seismic and acoustic vibration isolation. High-accuracy pitch measurements have been performed on 1D gratings. In one experiment, the MMM STM probe imaged an array of laser-focused, atomically deposited chromium lines over an entire 5 micrometers by 1 mm area. Analysis of the data yielded an average line spacing of 212.69 nm with a 5 pm standard uncertainty. The uncertainty estimate is derived for an analysis of the sources of uncertainty for a 1 mm point-to-point measurement, including the effects of alignment, Abbe offset, motion cross-coupling, and temperature variations. In another measurement, the STM probe continuously tracked a holographically-produced grating surface for 10 mm, counting out 49,996 lines and measuring an average line spacing of 200.011 nm with a 5 pm standard uncertainty.

Citation Download Citation

John Kramar, Edward Amatucci, David E. Gilsinn, Jau-Shi Jay Jun, William B. Penzes, Fredric Scire, E. Clayton Teague, and John S. Villarrubia "Toward nanometer accuracy measurements", Proc. SPIE 3677, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIII, (14 June 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.350791

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