Metrological atomic force microscope using a large range scanning dual stage

AbstractWe developed a metrological atomic force microscope (MAFM) using a large range scanning dual stage and evaluated the performance in the measurement of lateral dimension. AFMs are widely used in nanotechnology for very high spatial resolution, but the limitation in measurement range should be overcome to expand its application in nanometrology. Therefore, we constructed new MAFM having a large measurement of 200 mm × 200 mm by using a dual stage and an AFM head module. The dual stage is composed of a coarse and a fine stage to obtain large scanning range and high resolution simultaneously. Precision surfaces and PTFE sliding pads guide the motion of coarse stage, drove by a fine pitch screw and DC motors. Flexure hinges and PZT actuators are utilized for the fine stage. Multi-axis interferometers measure the five degrees of freedom motion of the dual stage for the position control and the compensation of parasitic angular motions. The vertical displacement of AFM tip is measured by a built-in capacitive sensor in the AFM head module within the range of 38 µm. The performance of the dual stage was evaluated and the expanded uncertainty (k = 2) in the measurements of 1-D displacement L was estimated as $$ U(L) = \sqrt {(2.8nm)^2 + (3.0 \times 10^{ - 7} \times L)^2 } $$. The relative uncertainty in pitch measurement was less than 0.02 % and the improvement of accuracy was verified by comparing with other MAFM, which are mostly due to the expansion of scan range and the compensation of angular motion. To enhance the performance, we will reduce the vibration and examine the motion of stage in the vertical direction during a long range scan.