Interlaboratory comparison of traceable atomic force microscope pitch measurements

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Advanced Surface Microscopy (ASM), and the National Metrology Centre (NMC) of the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore have completed a three-way interlaboratory comparison of traceable pitch measurements using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The specimen being used for this comparison is provided by ASM and consists of SiO 2 lines having a 70 nm pitch patterned on a silicon substrate. NIST has a multifaceted program in atomic force microscope (AFM) dimensional metrology. One component of this effort is a custom in-house metrology AFM, called the calibrated AFM (C-AFM). The NIST C-AFM has displacement metrology for all three axes traceable to the 633 nm wavelength of the iodine-stabilized He-Ne laser - a recommended wavelength for realization of the SI (Systeme International d'Unites, or International System of Units) meter. NIST used the C-AFM to participate in this comparison. ASM used a commercially available AFM with an open-loop scanner, calibrated by a 144 nm pitch transfer standard. In a prior collaboration with Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the German national metrology institute, ASM's transfer standard was calibrated using PTB's traceable optical diffractometry instrument. Thus, ASM's measurements are also traceable to the SI meter. NMC/A*STAR used a large scanning range metrological atomic force microscope (LRM-AFM). The LRM-AFM integrates an AFM scanning head into a nano-stage equipped with three built-in He-Ne laser interferometers so that its measurement related to the motion on all three axes is directly traceable to the SI meter. The measurements for this interlaboratory comparison have been completed and the results are in agreement within their expanded uncertainties and at the level of a few parts in 104.