Nanofabrication and -metrology by using the nanofabrication machine (NFM-100)

Abstract

The feature dimensions of integrated circuits are becoming smaller and the fabrication, metrology and inspection is becoming harder to be fulfilled. Fast-writing of long respectively large nano-features with Scanning-ProbeLithography and their inspection with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is a challenge, for the accomplishment of which the Nanofabrication Machine (NFM-100) can serve as a beneficial experimental platform for basic research in the field of scale-spanning nanomeasuring and nanofabrication. The NFM-100 has an integrated tipbased system, which can be used as an AFM as well as for Field-Emission Scanning Probe Lithography (FESPL). The combination of both systems offers the possibility to fabricate and analyze micro- and nanostructures with high resolution and precision down to a single nanometre over a large area of 100 mm in diameter in a single configuration without tool or sensor change. Thus, in contrast to conventional optical inspection and alignment systems, the NFM-100 offers the potential for full lithographic and metrological automation. For FESPL, the implemented active probes enable an in-situ inspection capability, a quantitative mapping at unprecedented resolution, as well as an integrated overlay alignment system. In this paper, the basic set-up of the NFM-100 as well as the capability of the system for long range AFM scans and FESPL is demonstrated.