The present disclosure is generally related to systems, tools, software, control, and methods for scanning probe microscope techniques, especially atomic force microscopy techniques and systems.
Methods and apparatuses for improved Advanced atomic force microscopy (AFM) scanning may comprise one or more of: performing a first scan at a first angle, a second scan at a second angle, and correcting an error in the first scan based on the second scan; performing a global scan of a first area, a local scan of a second area within the first area, and correcting an error in the local scan based on the global scan; and performing a first scan at a first position at a first angle, a second scan at a substantially level region of a sample using the same scan angle, and correcting an error in the first scan based on the second scan.
In one embodiment, a method may comprise performing a first atomic force microscope (AFM) scan of a sample at a first position at a first angle to produce a first scan image, performing a second AFM scan of the sample at the first position at a second angle to produce a second scan image, and correcting a first error in the first scan image based on the second scan image to produce a corrected image output.
In another embodiment, an apparatus may comprise an atomic force microscopy (“AFM”) tool adapted to perform a first scan of a sample at a first position at a first angle, perform a second scan of the sample at the first position at a second angle, and correct a first error in the first scan based on the second scan.
In yet another embodiment, a method may comprise performing a first atomic force microscope (AFM) scan of a sample at a first position at a first angle to produce a first scan image, performing a second AFM scan of the sample at a second position offset from the first position at the first angle to produce a second scan image, wherein the second position is located within a portion of the sample that has a substantially level surface, and correcting a first error in the first scan image based on the second scan image.
In yet another embodiment, an apparatus may comprise an atomic force microscopy (“AFM”) tool adapted to perform a first scan of a sample at a first position at a first angle, performing a second scan of the sample at a second position offset from the first position at the first angle, wherein the second position comprises a flat reference point of the sample, and correcting a first error in the first scan based on the second scan.
In yet another embodiment, a method may comprise performing a global atomic force microscope (AFM) scan of a first selected area of a sample at a first position, the global AFM scan including a larger area of the sample than a local AFM scan, performing the local AFM scan of a second selected area of the sample at a second position, the second selected area including a smaller area within the first selected area, correcting a slope error in the local AFM scan based on the global AFM scan, and outputting a corrected sample image based on the global AFM scan, the local AFM scan, and the step of correcting.
In yet another embodiment, an apparatus may comprise an atomic force microscopy (“AFM”) tool adapted to perform a global scan of a sample at a first position, the global scan including a larger area of the sample than a local scan, perform the local scan at a second position, wherein the second position is within an area of the global scan and an area of the local scan is smaller than the area of the global scan, and correct a slope error in the local scan based on the global scan.
In the following detailed description of the embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Scanning probe microscope techniques may be used for imaging and characterizing surface topology and properties at atomic resolution, such as for nanotechnology and nanoscience. Specifically, atomic force microscopy (“AFM”) (which is one type of scanning probe microscope techniques) can be used as a metrology tool in nanotechnology manufacturing, and specifically in nanoelectronic device manufacturing. AFM has applications to determine topography, shape, dimensions, locations of elements, and other potential uses, such as in semiconductors, photolithography and photomasks, and devices implementing thin film technologies, such as a transducer for magnetic data storage.
Manufacturing devices on a microscale or nanoscale can involve a series of complex fabrication process steps, such as by sequential layering on a substrate. To achieve a goal of high quality and low cost, the manufacturing process may include various metrology and inspection steps within a manufacturing line, such as to monitor density, pattern geometry, shape, dimensions, or topography. Further, calibrations to devices or systems, or to the manufacturing process itself, may be made based on the measurements or information received from the various metrology and inspection steps. The various metrology and inspection steps may often be on a micron or nanometer scale; for example, a transistor gate width may approximately be in a range of 32 nm to 35 nm. AFM may be used in semiconductor fabrication as a dimension metrology tool, such as for etching and chemical mechanical polishing characterization. Similar process technologies may be used in the photomask industries and thin film industries, as well as applications in biology and medical devices. For example, AFM allows a quick survey of a cross-sectional profile or surface topography to examine if a dimension is in specification, without destroying a product.
An atomic force microscope can scan a region of a sample that is highly localized and can be anywhere, as long as the space permits the tip size. With a feedback control loop, an atomic force microscope scanner can control a tiny probe to perform scanning motion in x (or y) and z directions to maintain a close proximity between the probe and sample surface, acquiring high-resolution positional data in all x, y, and z axes. A two or three dimensional topographic image can be constructed from the x/y/z spatial data. Then, offline software analysis can extract important geometric parameters about the measured target, such as depth, line width at top/middle/bottom locations, sidewall angle and profile shape, or surface topography.
In some implementations of AFM scanners, a tube scanner may be used to move a scanning tip or a sample. As a voltage is applied to a single outside electrode, a tube scanner will bend away from the electrode. This generates a horizontal motion in the x or y directions, which offers a capability to raster scan a sample surface. Such a design can cause scanner bow, a systematic shape error, while scanning a relatively large surface (such as >10 μm), in which a flat surface may be incorrectly measured as bowed, such as concave or otherwise curved. The bow error may sometimes be referred to as a run out error.
An AFM scanner may perform a scan comprising both an x-direction component and a y-direction component. The different scan components may be performed at different speeds. For example, an AFM scanner can collect topography information in the x direction with a relatively fast scan (such as around 1 second or less), while the y direction may be a relatively slow scan direction, and the topography may need to be constructed from many scan lines for a good quality image (such as around 256 seconds or even 512 seconds for a 256 or 512 pixel image). Scanning errors may show up in a final image caused by system drift in the slow scan direction.
In some examples, such as head media spacing (HMS) modeling for a data storage head, a trailing edge (TE) topography height can be measured using an air bearing surface (ABS) as a reference. Accurately measuring slider TE topography is important for HMS prediction, process control, modeling validation, and failure analysis. With the dimension of a transducer continually shrinking with each generation of devices, AFM tools have been used to measure the nanometer scale of TE topography. However, for a small feature, such as a perpendicular writer protrusion (PWP), a very small scan size must be used to clearly image such devices. Such images may be generally smaller than 4 μm, and the ABS feature is not included for use as a reference. If a localized feature, such as a contact pad, is used for image leveling, the localized feature shape can have a significant impact (e.g. can cause significant error) to the PWP image. As an example, a contact pad slope and shape can cause a significant error, such as to the PWP value, if the contact pad is used as a localized reference for leveling. Thus, the present disclosure presents an advanced AFM scanning method which can correct error caused by scanner bow, system drift, and localized feature shape, sometimes called slope error.
An advanced atomic force microscopy scanning method for obtaining the shape of a sample, sometimes referenced herein as the Advanced Pole tip recession (PTR) and Perpendicular writer protrusion (PWP) method (the combination of which may be referred to as the “APP method”), may be used to eliminate errors caused by scanner bow, system drift, and localized feature shape. While the method as described herein refers to PTR and PWP components of a magnetic data storage head, it should be understood that the systems and methods described may be applied to AFM in general and any type of sample.
In addition, locations described with respect to scans, such as a coordinate (e.g. 0, 0) or offset, may refer to the starting point of a scan (e.g. starting at the coordinate and scanning in a given direction), or it may refer to how the AFM tool is centered with the area around the coordinate being scanned. Arrows depicting a direction of a scan in the accompanying drawings are to help conceptualize the orientation of a scan, but do not necessarily indicate that a scan begins at a given point and proceeds in the direction of the arrow.
Referring now to
A first scan 106 may be performed using a 0 degree scan direction at the first location 116 to collect a first PTR image, as shown in
The second image from the second scan 108 can be used to correct system drift errors in the first image. For example, because the fast-scanning direction of a given scan does not exhibit system drift errors, the fast-scan of the second image can be used to correct drift in the slow scan direction of the first image. The second image can be used to correct the slow scan direction drift in the first PTR image, such as by using a true 3D image flattening method. Such image flattening method may be performed, for example, by using instructions running on a computer-readable storage medium. The first scan 106 and the second scan 108 may be used to provide information on region 104, and in some embodiments, information on region 111 as well.
The AFM tool may be offset to a second location 118, which may be within region 111. Region 111, which may be referred to as the PWP scan zone or local scan zone, may be a subsection of the PTR scan zone 104, and may encompass an area or feature of the sample about which detailed information is desired or for which localized AFM scans are required. A third scan 112 may be performed using a 0 degree scan direction at the second location 118 to collect a third image, as shown in
The fourth image can be used to correct slow scan direction drift in the third image, for example by using a true 3D image flattening method. The third scan 112 and the fourth scan 114 may be used to provide information on the local scan zone 111.
Turning now to
While the examples depicted in
Thus, the AFM scanning tool described herein corrects errors that may arise during AFM scanning The AFM scanning tool produces one or more images via AFM scanning of the surface of the sample. The images may be used to detect errors, manufacturing variances, or other features of the sample.
The corrected PTR and PWP images that can reflect the true topography shape are displayed in the images 212 of
Turning now to
In an example, referring to
At 402, a first scan may be performed in a 0 degree scan direction at a first position, such as the first scan 106 at first position 116 in
At 406, a third scan may be performed in a 0 degree scan direction at a second position, such as the third scan 112 from the second position 118 in
The AFM tool, such as a scanning tip, may be disengaged and reset to the X,Y location of the first position, at 410. Further, the AFM tool may be moved to a third location, such as by using a step motor of the AFM tool. The third location may be based on a reference point, such as third location 120 of
While the steps of method 400 describe scans in specific orientations and performed in a specific order, it is to be understood that these steps are used for illustration purposes only. More or fewer scans may be performed, in different orientations, and the scans may be performed in a different order than described in method 400.
In accordance with various embodiments, the methods and systems described herein may be implemented as one or more software programs, either on line or off line, and control algorithms running on a computer processor or controller. Further, a computer readable medium may store instructions, that when executed by a processor or computer system, cause a processor or computer system to perform the methods described herein. Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays, and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein. The systems and methods described herein can be applied to any type of computer processing system that can perform the processes described herein. Further, the methods described herein may be implemented as a computer readable medium including instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform such methods.
The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of the various embodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a complete description of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systems that utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangement designed to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Although a magnetic recording head has been used as an example of the proposed method, this disclosure can be applied to any other micro or nano scale device for topography and shape measurement.
The present application claims priority to pending U.S. provisional patent applications Ser. No. 61/513,440, filed Jul. 29, 2011, entitled “Advanced Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning;” and Ser. No. 61/521,746, filed Aug. 9, 2011, entitled “Advanced Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning for Obtaining a True Shape,” the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61513440 | Jul 2011 | US | |
61521746 | Aug 2011 | US |