Options
A landmark-based 3D calibration strategy for SPM
Publikationstyp
Conference Paper
Date Issued
2007-02
Sprache
English
Volume
18
Issue
2
Start Page
404
End Page
414
Article Number
S12
Citation
Measurement Science and Technology 18 (2): S12 404-414 (2007-02)
Publisher DOI
Scopus ID
We present a new method for the complete three-dimensional (3D) calibration of scanning probe microscopes (SPM) and other high-resolution microscopes, e.g., scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopes (CLSM), by applying a 3D micrometre-sized reference structure with the shape of a cascade slope-step pyramid. The 3D reference structure was produced by focused ion beam induced metal deposition. In contrast to pitch featured calibration procedures that require separate lateral and vertical reference standards such as gratings and step height structures, the new method includes the use of landmarks, which are well established in calibration and measurement tasks on a larger scale. However, the landmarks applied to the new 3D reference structures are of sub-micrometre size, the so-called 'nanomarkers'. The nanomarker coordinates are used for a geometrical calibration of the scanning process of SPM as well as of other instrument types such as SEM and CLSM. For that purpose, a parameter estimation routine involving three scale factors and three coupling factors has been developed that allows lateral and vertical calibration in only one sampling step. With this new calibration strategy, we are able to detect deviations of SPM lateral scaling errors as well as coupling effects causing, e.g., a lateral coordinate shift depending on the measured height position of the probe. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Subjects
3D standards
Calibration
Distortions
Focused ion beam
Parameter estimation
Scanning probe microscopy
Spatial coupling