• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.11
• /
• pp.75-82
• /
• 2004

A metrological atomic force microscope (M-AFM) was developed fur the length measurements of nanometer range, through the modification of a commercial AFM. To eliminate nonlinearity and crosstalk of the PZT tube scanner of the commercial AFM, a two-axis flexure hinge scanner employing built-in capacitive sensors is used for X-Y motion instead of PZT tube scanner. Then two-dimensional displacement of the scanner is measured using two-axis heterodyne laser interferometer to ensure the meter-traceability. Through the measurements of several specimens, we could verify the elimination of nonlinearity and crosstalk. The uncertainty of length measurements was estimated according to the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. Among several sources of uncertainty, the primary one is the drift of laser interferometer output, which occurs mainly from the variation of refractive index of air and the thermal stability. The Abbe error, which is proportional to the measured length, is another primary uncertainty source coming from the parasitic motion of the scanner. The expanded uncertainty (k =2) of length measurements using the M-AFM is √(4.26)$^2$+(2.84${\times}$10$^{-4}$ ${\times}$L)$^2$(nm), where f is the measured length in nm. We also measured the pitch of one-dimensional grating and compared the results with those obtained by optical diffractometry. The relative difference between these results is less than 0.01 %.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.84-91
• /
• 2005

We measured the pitch of one-dimensional (ID) grating specimens using a metrological atomic force microscope (M-AFM). The ID grating specimens a.e often used as a magnification standard in nano-metrology, such as scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thus, we need to certify the pitch of grating specimens fur the meter-traceability in nano-metrology. To this end, an M-AFM was setup at KRISS. The M-AFM consists of a commercial AFM head module, a two-axis flexure hinge type nanoscanner with built-in capacitive sensors, and a two-axis heterodyne interferometer to establish the meter-traceability directly. Two kinds of ID grating specimens, each with the nominal pitch of 288 nm and 700 nm, were measured. The uncertainty in pitch measurement was evaluated according to Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. The pitch was calculated from 9 line scan profiles obtained at different positions with 100 ㎛ scan range. The expanded uncertainties (k = 2) in pitch measurement were 0.10 nm and 0.30 nm for the specimens with the nominal pitch of 288 nm and 700 nm. The measured pitch values were compared with those obtained using an optical diffractometer, and agreed within the range of the expanded uncertainty of pitch measurement. We also discussed the effect of averaging in the measurement of mean pitch using M-AFM and main components of uncertainty.