Hosaka Sumio, Koyabu Hirokazu, Noro Masamichi, Takizawa Katsuyuki, Sone Hayato, Yin You
Graduate School of Engineering, Gunma University, 1-5-1 Tenjin, Kiryu 376-8515, Japan.
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2010 Jul;10(7):4522-7. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2010.2374.
Inclination atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging has been studied on the possibility to observe a pattern sidewall in contact mode or digital probing (step-in) mode for a line edge roughness (LER) or line width roughness (LWR). Analysis of the AFM tip bending and slipping indicates that it is serious problem to measure and control very fine patterns within an error of less than 1 nm in contact of the tip on the steep slop of the pattern, and it is very important directly to observe the sidewall at inclination angle. In experiments using pyramidal tip and steep Si pattern with about 90 degrees slop, it has demonstrated that the inclination angle is 35-40 degrees for faithful observation of the sidewall. We have observed the etched strip lines on the sidewall with a width of about 100 nm and a depth of about 6.4 nm. We have demonstrated that the inclination AFM is very useful for evaluation of the LER or LWR.
已对倾斜原子力显微镜（AFM）成像进行了研究，探讨在接触模式或数字探测（步进）模式下观察线条边缘粗糙度（LER）或线宽粗糙度（LWR）的图案侧壁的可能性。对AFM针尖弯曲和滑动的分析表明，在图案的陡坡上针尖接触时，要在小于1 nm的误差范围内测量和控制非常精细的图案是个严重问题，直接以倾斜角度观察侧壁非常重要。在使用金字塔形针尖和具有约90度斜率的陡峭硅图案的实验中，已证明为了可靠地观察侧壁，倾斜角度为35 - 40度。我们观察到侧壁上蚀刻的带状线，其宽度约为100 nm，深度约为6.4 nm。我们已证明倾斜AFM对于评估LER或LWR非常有用。
