SEM Sentinel - SEM Performance Measurement System, Part 1

Published

April 1, 2000

Author(s)

Alice V. Ling, Andras Vladar, Bradley N. Damazo, M A. Donmez, Michael T. Postek

Abstract

This report describes the current design of a system for monitoring the performance of several major subsystems of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The following subsystems and the associated functional parameters will be monitored. 1) Vacuum system with pressure as a function of time being recorded for the electron-optical column (gun chamber), the specimen chamber, and the sample-loading unit. 2) Several components of the wafer handling system will be timed. 3) The electron gun emission currents and other signals to monitor focal properties of the condenser and objective lenses may be used to correlate with image quality. Experiments are described for tests involving diagnosis of the vacuum system.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 6498

Report Number

6498

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Keywords

condition-based monitoring, data acquisition, diagnostic system for SEM, LabVIEW

Citation

Ling, A. , Vladar, A. , Damazo, B. , Donmez, M. and Postek, M. (2000), SEM Sentinel - SEM Performance Measurement System, Part 1, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (Accessed October 11, 2025)