Molecular Measuring Machine Design and Measurements

Published

May 1, 2000

Author(s)

John A. Kramar, Jay S. Jun, William B. Penzes, Fredric Scire, E C. Teague, John S. Villarrubia

Abstract

We at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are building a metrology instrument called the Molecular Measuring Machine (M3) with the goal of performing nanometer-accuracy, two-dimensional, point-to-point measurements over a 50 mm by 50 mm area. The instrument uses a scanning tunneling microscope to probe the surface and an interferometer system to measure the lateral probe movement, both having sub-nanometer resolution. The vertical measurement range is 5 ?m using a calibrated capacitance gage sensor. The instrument includes temperature control with millidegree K stability, an ultra-high vacuum environment with a base pressure below 10^-5 Pa, and seismic and acoustic vibration isolation. Pitch measurements were performed on gratings made by holographic exposure of photoresist and on gratings made by laser-focused atomic deposition of Cr. The line pitch for these gratings ranged from 200 nm to 400 nm with an estimated expanded uncertainty of the average pitch of 50 x 10^-6. This fractional uncertainty is derived from an analysis of the sources of uncertainty for a 1 mm measurement, including the effects of alignment, Abb? errors, motion cross-coupling, and temperature variations.

Volume

1

Conference Dates

May 28-30, 2000

Conference Location

Copenhagen, DE

Conference Title

Proceedings of the EUSPEN Topical Conference on Fabrication and Metrology in Nanotechnology

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

grating pitch measurements, metrology, Molecular Measuring Machine, nanoscale measurements, nanotechnology

Citation

Kramar, J. , Jun, J. , Penzes, W. , Scire, F. , Teague, E. and Villarrubia, J. (2000), Molecular Measuring Machine Design and Measurements, Proceedings of the EUSPEN Topical Conference on Fabrication and Metrology in Nanotechnology, Copenhagen, DE (Accessed April 18, 2024)