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

Published

January 1, 1998

Author(s)

V W. Tsai, Theodore V. Vorburger, Ronald G. Dixson, Joseph Fu, R Koning, Richard M. Silver, E. C. 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 a 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.

Proceedings Title

1998 International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology

Conference Dates

April 28, 1998

Conference Location

Gaithersburg, MD

Conference Title

International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

calibration, SPM Metrology, step height

Citation

Tsai, V. , Vorburger, T. , Dixson, R. , Fu, J. , Koning, R. , Silver, R. and , E. (1998), The Study of Silicon Stepped Surfaces as Atomic Force Microscope Calibration Standards With a Calibrated AFM at NIST, 1998 International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (Accessed December 3, 2024)