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The Study of Silicon Stepped Surfaces as Atomic Force Microscope Calib Standards With a Calibrated AFM at NIST

Published

Author(s)

V W. Tsai, Theodore V. Vorburger, Ronald G. Dixson, Joseph Fu, R Koning, Richard M. Silver, Edwin R. Williams

Abstract

Due to the limitations of modern manufacturing technology, there is no commercial height artifact at the sub-nanometer scale currently available. The single-atom steps on a cleaned silicon (111) surface with a height of 0.314 nm, derived from the lattice constant of silicon, have considerable potential as an AFM calibration artifact at the sub-nanometer range. A metrology AFM developed at NIST, called the calibrated AFM (C-AFM), is used to measure this type of surface. In this paper, the results of six sets of measurements made over a period of five months are presented. The calculation of the step algorithm and the uncertainty of the measurement are introduced and discussed briefly.
Citation
Chapter in: Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology 2005 ; D.G. Seiler et. al., Editors
Publisher Info
American Institute of Physics Press, New York, NY

Keywords

calibration, SPM metrology, step height

Citation

Tsai, V. , Vorburger, T. , Dixson, R. , Fu, J. , Koning, R. , Silver, R. and Williams, E. (2005), The Study of Silicon Stepped Surfaces as Atomic Force Microscope Calib Standards With a Calibrated AFM at NIST, American Institute of Physics Press, New York, NY (Accessed April 25, 2024)
Created September 28, 2005, Updated October 12, 2021