WO2005010502A1 - 走査型プローブ顕微鏡の深針交換方法 - Google Patents
走査型プローブ顕微鏡の深針交換方法 Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2005010502A1 WO2005010502A1 PCT/JP2004/003851 JP2004003851W WO2005010502A1 WO 2005010502 A1 WO2005010502 A1 WO 2005010502A1 JP 2004003851 W JP2004003851 W JP 2004003851W WO 2005010502 A1 WO2005010502 A1 WO 2005010502A1
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- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- cantilever
- probe
- force
- lever
- sample
- Prior art date
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q10/00—Scanning or positioning arrangements, i.e. arrangements for actively controlling the movement or position of the probe
- G01Q10/04—Fine scanning or positioning
- G01Q10/06—Circuits or algorithms therefor
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y35/00—Methods or apparatus for measurement or analysis of nanostructures
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q30/00—Auxiliary means serving to assist or improve the scanning probe techniques or apparatus, e.g. display or data processing devices
- G01Q30/04—Display or data processing devices
- G01Q30/06—Display or data processing devices for error compensation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q70/00—General aspects of SPM probes, their manufacture or their related instrumentation, insofar as they are not specially adapted to a single SPM technique covered by group G01Q60/00
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q70/00—General aspects of SPM probes, their manufacture or their related instrumentation, insofar as they are not specially adapted to a single SPM technique covered by group G01Q60/00
- G01Q70/02—Probe holders
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a probe replacement method for a scanning probe microscope, and more particularly to a probe replacement method for a scanning probe microscope suitable for automatically replacing a probe in a short time with high positioning accuracy.
- a scanning probe microscope is conventionally known as a measuring device having a measuring resolution capable of observing a fine object of the order or size of atoms.
- scanning probe microscopes have been applied to various fields such as measurement of fine irregularities on the surface of a substrate or wafer on which a semiconductor device is manufactured.
- the atomic force microscope is suitable for detecting fine irregularities on the surface of a sample with high resolution, and has achieved good results in fields such as semiconductor substrates and disks.
- the atomic force microscope which has also been used for the in-line automatic inspection process, has a measuring device based on the principle of the atomic force microscope as a basic configuration.
- a tribo-type or tube-type XYZ fine movement mechanism formed using a piezoelectric element is provided, and a cantilever having a probe at the tip is attached to the lower end of the XYZ fine movement mechanism.
- the tip of the probe faces the surface of the sample.
- an optical lever type optical detection device is provided for the cantilever.
- a laser light source laser oscillator
- One light is reflected by the back of the cantilever and detected by the photodetector.
- the incident position of the laser beam on the photodetector changes. Therefore, when displacement occurs at the probe and the force cantilever, the direction and amount of the displacement can be detected by the detection signal output from the photodetector.
- a comparator and a controller are usually provided as a control system. The comparator compares the detection voltage signal output from the photodetector with the reference voltage and outputs a deviation signal.
- the controller generates a control signal so that the deviation signal becomes 0, and supplies the control signal to the Z fine movement mechanism in the XYZ fine movement mechanism.
- a feedback control system for maintaining a constant distance between the sample and the probe is formed.
- the main task was to measure the surface fine shape on the order of nm or less using its high resolution.
- the range of use of scanning probe microscopes has been extended to in-line automatic inspection, in which inspection is performed in the middle of in-line manufacturing equipment for semiconductor devices. In such a situation, in the actual inspection process, it is required to measure very steep irregularities in the fine irregularities on the surface of the semiconductor device formed on the substrate or the wafer.
- the mounting structure of a probe of a conventional atomic force microscope Normally, the probe is formed on the lower surface at the tip of the force lever.
- the cantilever is a cantilevered lever member having the required elasticity. Therefore, the mounting structure of the probe, that is, the mounting structure of the cantilever, has substantially the same technical content as the mounting structure of the cantilever.
- the cantilever is attached to the lower end of the -XYZ fine movement mechanism, particularly the lower end of the Z fine movement mechanism (the mounting structure of the cantilever will be described in detail.
- the cantilever has a probe on the lower surface of the tip and
- the cantilever holder has a cantilever holder at its rear end (base) .
- the cantilever holder has a relatively large area, for example, a rectangular flat plate when compared with the cantilever part in terms of size and shape.
- a cantilever mounting part for mounting the cantilever is provided below the Z fine movement mechanism. In this cantilever mounting part, the force cantilever is fixed and attached to the lower part of the Z fine movement mechanism by, for example, sucking the cantilever holder by a suction action (vacuum suction) by an air suction mechanism.
- a major problem in scanning probe microscopes such as the above-mentioned atomic force microscope is replacement of the probe.
- various measurement modes have been proposed to minimize the contact between the probe and the sample.
- contact between the probe and the sample cannot be completely eliminated, and wear of the tip of the probe cannot be avoided. Therefore, if the probe becomes worn, the cantilever must be removed from the mounting part of the scanning probe microscope and replaced with a new cantilever.
- a mechanism for attaching the cantilever with the probe to the cantilever mounting portion is particularly important.
- Japanese Patent No. 3176931 As a technique for automatically changing a probe in a scanning probe microscope, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3176931.
- the scanning probe microscope described in Japanese Patent No. 3176931 has a configuration and a function of automatically exchanging the probes and performing the alignment thereof.
- a cantilever force set installation table installation port
- the cantilever cassette has a plurality of storage portions, and a plurality of cantilevers are stored in the respective storage portions.
- a cantilever mounting part having a suction mechanism is provided below the fine movement mechanism (scanner) of the scanning probe microscope. The anti-lever is attached and installed.
- the fine movement mechanism when replacing the cantilever attached to the lower part of the fine movement mechanism, the fine movement mechanism is relatively moved to the installation position of the force cantilever cassette by, for example, moving the sample stage. Release the suction action, remove the old cantilever in the empty storage area of the cantilever cassette, place the cantilever, then move the fine movement mechanism to the new cantilever location, and again use the new cantilever based on the suction action. Wear one.
- the positioning of the fine movement mechanism, the predetermined empty storage portion of the cantilever cassette, a new force cantilever, and the like is performed based on, for example, observation with an optical microscope. Specifically, an image of the observation field of view is acquired with a TV camera, the position of the cantilever is automatically recognized based on the image, the position for mounting is determined, and the Z stage in the sample stage is determined. Performs the approaching operation, and completes the mounting of the cantilever based on the suction action of the suction device.
- the automatic exchange of the force cantilever that is, the automatic exchange of the probe can be realized.
- setting of the position of an optical detection device for irradiating the laser beam to the back of the cantilever and optical axis alignment are performed so that the next SPM measurement can be performed.
- the method for automatically exchanging the probe described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent No. 3176931 has a problem that it takes time to exchange the probe.
- the first reason is that the vacuum suction method is used as the mounting method, but the mounting position is shifted at the time of suction, and in the worst case, it often occurs that it is necessary to remove and re-attach it.
- the second reason is that the method of determining the position before mounting the probe requires accurate positioning, and the mounting operation is complicated, and it takes time to replace the probe.
- Patent No. 3 1 7 6 9 3 1 The process of attaching one is shown in nine steps as follows.
- Fine adjustment of the XY stage Finely adjust the XY stage of the sample stage according to the result of step (4) so that the cantilever is at a predetermined position (usually the center position) in the observation field of view of the optical microscope.
- Focus by optical microscope Focus the optical microscope on the back of the cantilever.
- step (8) If the installation of the cantilever fails in step (8), remove the cantilever and return to step (2) to start over.
- the optical detection mechanism that detects the elastic distortion of the cantilever moves the laser light source to set the irradiation position of the laser light to be used, or emits light from the laser light source.
- the position of the photodetector that receives the laser beam reflected by the power cantilever is moved.
- the adjustment of the detection position on the photodetector to a predetermined position, etc. takes a lot of time to adjust. .
- an object of the present invention is to provide a probe replacement method for a scanning probe microscope that can automatically mount or replace a probe with high accuracy in a short time.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical detection device for automatically determining the mounting state of a cantilever after automatically mounting or exchanging a cantilever (probe) and further detecting the displacement of the cantilever.
- An object of the present invention is to provide a method of exchanging a probe of a scanning probe microscope, which can automatically adjust each position of a light source and a light detector. Disclosure of the invention
- a method for exchanging a probe of a scanning probe microscope according to the present invention is configured as follows to achieve the above object.
- the method of exchanging the tip of the scanning probe microscope involves a cantilever provided so that the tip is directed toward the sample, and a tip-to-sample contact between the tip and the sample when the tip scans the surface of the sample.
- Measuring unit for measuring the generated physical quantity part consisting of optical lever type optical detection device, feedback servo control system, scanning device, XYZ fine movement mechanism, control unit for data processing, etc.
- This is a method of exchanging the above-mentioned probe in a scanning probe microscope configured to measure the surface of the sample by scanning the surface of the sample with the probe while keeping the probe constant.
- the scanning probe microscope further includes a cantilever with a mechanism for attaching and detaching the cantilever (a vacuum suction mechanism using an air suction device or the like).
- a cantilever with a mechanism for attaching and detaching the cantilever (a vacuum suction mechanism using an air suction device or the like).
- Bar mounting part cantilever storage part (cantilever cassette) for accommodating and storing multiple cantilevers, first moving mechanism (XY stage and Z stage) for moving the position of the cantilever storage part, and mounted cantilever And an observation device for observing the position of the lever.
- the probe exchanging method according to the present invention is characterized in that the first moving mechanism performs positioning between the cantilever mounting portion and the cantilever storage portion, and one cantilever from the cantilever storage portion.
- the cantilever is set at a predetermined position in an observation field of the observation device by moving the observation device by the second moving mechanism.
- the observation device is configured to move its position in the XY plane by the second moving mechanism.
- the cantilever is moved to the predetermined position in the observation field of the observation device by moving the cantilever side by a positioning mechanism moved by the first moving mechanism. .
- the observation device is an optical microscope
- a pattern recognition process is performed using images obtained by the optical microscope and the TV camera to determine a mounting position of the mounted cantilever. It is a way to identify.
- the predetermined position is characterized by being a center position of an observation visual field.
- the probe replacement method of the scanning probe microscope includes a cantilever having a probe at the distal end and a cantilever holder at the proximal end, and a probe and a sample when the probe scans the surface of the sample.
- a measuring unit is provided to measure the physical quantities generated between them. It is applied to a scanning probe microscope configured to scan a surface and measure the surface of the sample.
- This scanning probe microscope further moves the positions of a cantilever mounting portion provided with a mechanism for attaching and detaching the cantilever via a cantilever holder, a cantilever storage portion for storing a plurality of cantilevers, and a force cantilever storage portion.
- the scanning probe microscope includes a positioning mechanism for adjusting the position of the force cantilever attached to the cantilever attachment portion, which is moved by the first moving mechanism.
- the position is adjusted between the cantilever and the storage unit, one force cantilever is selected from the force cantilever storage unit, and this cantilever is moved through the cantilever holder. Mounting the cantilever on the mounting portion of the cantilever, positioning the cantilever mounting portion on which the cantilever is mounted and the positioning mechanism with the first moving mechanism, and mounting the selected force cantilever on the cantilever mounting portion.
- a step of imaging the mounted force cantilever with the observation device After mounting the cantilever on the observation device, a step of imaging the mounted force cantilever with the observation device, and a step of changing the position of the cantilever with respect to the force cantilever mounting portion by the positioning mechanism to move the cantilever to a predetermined position within the observation field of view of the observation device.
- the positioning mechanism has a pushing member for pushing a side surface of the cantilever holder attached to the cantilever attaching portion.
- the pressing member is an L-shaped pressing member that comes into contact with two side surfaces of the cantilever holder having a rectangular planar shape.
- the above-described probe replacement method preferably includes a step of determining a mounting state of the cantilever mounted on the cantilever mounting portion.
- the observation device is an optical microscope, a step of performing pattern recognition and image processing using an image obtained by the optical microscope, and a can attached to the force-lever mounting portion. There is a step for specifying the mounting position of the chiller.
- the second moving mechanism uses the image obtained by the observation device and the output signal from the photodetector, the second moving mechanism relatively moves the position of the laser light source, and determines the irradiation position of the laser light irradiating the force cantilever. Automatically setting at a predetermined position within the irradiation target range.
- the position of the photodetector is relatively moved by the third moving mechanism based on the position and the coordinate value of the central axis, and the light receiving position of the laser beam on the photodetector A step for automatically setting the position to a predetermined position.
- the probe When using a scanning probe microscope such as an atomic force microscope to measure and inspect a sample such as a substrate on which a semiconductor device has been manufactured in the in-line automatic inspection process, the probe is scanned according to the algorithm of automatic measurement, and the unevenness on the sample surface is measured. Measure the shape. Since the sample to be measured is continuously carried in at regular time intervals, for example, when the automatic measurement of a predetermined number of samples is completed, the tip of the probe becomes worn, and it is necessary to replace it with a new probe. Become. To replace the probe, remove the used force cantilever from the cantilever mounting part, and attach a new force cantilever to the cantilever mounting part. A plurality of cantilevers are stored in a cantilever storage section in advance. The removed cantilever is stored in the designated empty storage area of the cantilever storage section, and a new cantilever is stored. One of the levers is selected from the plurality of levers in the lever storage section.
- the position of each of the plurality of cantilevers in the cantilever storage unit is determined in advance by a method such as coordinate management in a coordinate system set on the sample stage, and the position data is managed in the storage unit of the control device. .
- the cantilever storage section is moved by the first moving mechanism.
- the new cantilever is made to match the position of the mounting portion on the XY stage, and the cantilever is moved closer to the cantilever mounting portion by the Z stage, and the cantilever is mounted on the cantilever mounting portion.
- the optical microscope or the like is moved by, for example, the second moving mechanism to adjust the position of the force lever to the center position of the observation field of view.
- the force algorithm is found by the search algorithm, and the position is adjusted so that it finally comes to the center position.
- the position of the force cantilever attached after the cantilever is observed with an observation device, instead of adjusting the position before attaching the cantilever. Since the cantilever mounting position with respect to the cantilever mounting portion is fine-adjusted by moving the cantilever side to change, no re-mounting work is required. Therefore, fine adjustment of the position before installation can be omitted, re-installation after installation is not required, and the number of control steps for replacement is small. This eliminates the need to replace the probe in a very short time. Further, the optical axis of the optical detection device can be automatically adjusted, so that an accurate measurement state can be created.
- the mounting position of the cantilever is finely adjusted by an optical microscope or the like to eliminate mounting errors. Therefore, even if there is an error in the cantilever mounted on the mounting portion, no remounting work occurs, the number of steps for replacement can be reduced, and replacement can be performed in a very short time.
- FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a scanning probe microscope to which a probe exchanging method according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a specific configuration of the sample stage according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a plan view of a specific example of the cantilever cassette.
- FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
- FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which the scanning probe microscope according to the present invention is used as an in-line automatic detection process.
- FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of a cantilever mounting operation in probe replacement.
- FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the state of the visual field observed by the optical microscope.
- FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a scanning probe microscope to which the probe exchanging method according to the second embodiment of the present invention is applied.
- FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a specific configuration of the sample stage according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a plan view of a pushing member of the positioning mechanism.
- FIG. 11 is a side view of the pressing member of the positioning mechanism.
- FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the operating state of the pressing member of the positioning mechanism.
- FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which the cantilever unit attached to the attachment unit in the second embodiment is moved to the positioning mechanism.
- FIG. 14 is a screen diagram showing the alignment between the center of the screen and the cantilever in the observation field of view of the optical microscope.
- FIG. 15A is a flowchart showing the flow of the first half of the procedure of the automatic probe replacement method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 15B is a flowchart showing the flow of the latter half of the procedure of the automatic probe replacement method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the optical axis system of the optical detection device viewed from the free end side of the cantilever.
- FIG. 17 is a plan view of the optical axis system of the optical detection device.
- FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a light receiving surface and a light receiving state of the photodetector.
- FIG. 19 is a screen diagram showing an observation image of an optical microscope for explaining the automatic adjustment of the optical axis.
- a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
- a method for automatically changing the probe of a scanning probe microscope is described.
- a method for adjusting the position by moving components related to the screen side is proposed.
- a scanning probe microscope to which the probe exchanging method according to the present invention is applied will be described.
- a typical example of this scanning probe microscope is an atomic force microscope (AFM).
- the scanning probe microscope is not limited to the atomic force microscope : a sample stage 11 is provided in a lower portion of the scanning probe microscope in FIG. The sample 12 is placed on the sample stage 11.
- the sample stage 11 is a three-dimensional coordinate system 1 consisting of orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes. 3 is a mechanism for changing the position of the sample 12.
- the sample stage 11 is composed of an XY stage 14, a Z stage 15 and a sample holder 16.
- the sample stage 11 is usually configured as a coarse movement mechanism that generates a displacement (position change) on the sample side.
- the sample 12 On the upper surface of the sample holder 16 of the sample stage 11, for example, the sample 12 having a relatively large area and a thin plate shape is placed and held.
- the sample 12 is, for example, a substrate or a wafer having an integrated circuit pattern of a semiconductor device formed on a surface thereof.
- the sample 12 is fixed on the sample holder 16.
- the sample holder 16 has a sample fixing chuck mechanism.
- reference numeral 14 denotes an XY stage
- reference numeral 15 denotes a Z stage.
- the XY stage 14 is a mechanism for moving the sample on a horizontal plane (XY plane)
- the Z stage 15 is a mechanism for moving the sample 12 in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction).
- the Z stage 15 is mounted, for example, on the XY stage 14.
- the XY stage 14 is composed of two parallel Y-axis rails 201 arranged in the Y-axis direction, a Y-axis motor 202, and a Y-axis driving force transmission mechanism 203. Consists of a mechanical unit and an X-axis mechanism unit consisting of two parallel X-axis rails 204 arranged in the X-axis direction, an X-axis motor 205 and an X-axis driving force transmission mechanism 206 Have been.
- the Z stage 15 can be arbitrarily moved in the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction.
- the Z stage 15 is provided with a drive mechanism for raising and lowering the sample holder 16 in the Z-axis direction. In FIG. 2, the drive mechanism is hidden and not shown.
- a check mechanism 207 for fixing the sample 12 is provided on the sample holder 16. As the chuck mechanism 207, a mechanism utilizing an action such as mechanical, vacuum suction, or electrostatic suction is usually used.
- FIG. 1 will be described again.
- An optical microscope 18 having a drive mechanism 17 is disposed above the sample 12.
- the optical microscope 18 is supported by a driving mechanism 17.
- the drive mechanism 17 moves the optical microscope 18 in the Z-axis direction. It comprises a Z-direction moving mechanism 17a for focusing for moving the lens in the vertical direction and an XY direction moving mechanism 17b for moving in the directions of the XY axes.
- the Z-direction moving mechanism 17a moves the optical microscope 18 in the Z-axis direction
- the XY-direction moving mechanism 17b moves the optical microscope 18 and the Z-direction moving mechanism 17a.
- the XY-direction moving mechanism 17b is fixed to a frame member, but the illustration of the frame member is omitted in FIG.
- the optical microscope 18 is placed with its objective lens 18a facing downward, and is placed at a position facing the surface of the sample 12 from directly above.
- the upper end of the optical microscope 18 has a TV camera (imaging (Equipment) 19 is attached.
- the TV camera 19 captures and acquires an image of a specific region on the sample surface captured by the objective lens 18a, and outputs image data.
- a cantilever unit 21 (a broadly defined cantilever 21) having a probe 20 at its tip is arranged above the sample 12 in a state of approaching.
- the power lever unit 21 is fixed to the mounting part 22.
- the cantilever unit 21 (broadly-defined cantilever 21) includes a flexibly deflectable lever member 21A (a narrowly-defined cantilever 21A) having a probe 20 at one free end, and a lever. And a cantilever holder 21-1 supporting the base of one member 21A. More specifically, a silicon base is provided at the connection between the lever member 21A and the cantilever holder 21-1.
- the forcech lever holder 21-1 has, for example, a rectangular flat plate shape of 8 mm square.
- the mounting part 22 is a means for mounting the cantilever holder 21 of the power cantilever unit 21.
- the mounting portion 22 is provided with, for example, an air suction portion (not shown), and the air suction portion is connected to an air suction device (not shown).
- the cantilever unit 21 is fixed and mounted on the basis of the vacuum suction action by the cantilever holder 211 having a large area being suctioned by the air suction portion of the mounting portion 22.
- the above-mentioned mounting part 22 is a Z fine movement mechanism 2 that generates a fine movement in the Z direction. Attached to 3. Further, the Z fine movement mechanism 23 is attached to the lower surface of the cantilever displacement detecting section 24. The cantilever displacement detecting section 24 is attached to an XY fine movement mechanism 29 that generates a fine movement in the XY direction, as described later. Therefore, the mounting portion 22 can be moved by a small distance in each of the X, ⁇ , and Z directions by the Z fine movement mechanism 23 and the XY fine movement mechanism 29.
- the force-lever displacement detector 24 has a configuration in which a laser light source 26 and a photodetector 27 are mounted on a support frame 25 in a predetermined arrangement relationship.
- the laser light source 26 is a laser diode (LD) that emits laser light
- the light detector 27 is a photodiode (PD) that receives laser light.
- the cantilever displacement detector 24 and the cantilever unit 21 are maintained in a fixed positional relationship, and the laser beam 28 emitted from the laser light source 26 is reflected by the back of the cantilever 21A for light detection. It is incident on the container 27.
- the cantilever displacement detection section 24 constitutes an optical lever type optical detection device.
- each of the laser light source 26 and the optical detector 27 has a moving mechanism capable of adjusting its position on the support frame 25.
- the cantilever displacement detector 24 is attached to the XY fine movement mechanism 29.
- the XY fine movement mechanism 29 moves the cantilever unit 21 and the probe 20 at a small distance in each of the X and Y axis directions.
- the cantilever-displacement detecting section 24 is simultaneously moved, and the positional relationship between the cantilever unit 21 and the cantilever-displacement detecting section 24 is unchanged.
- the Z fine movement mechanism 23 and the XY fine movement mechanism 29 are usually composed of piezoelectric elements.
- the Z fine movement mechanism 23 and the XY fine movement mechanism 29 allow the probe 20 to move in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction by a minute distance (for example, several to 10 im, up to 100 ⁇ m).
- the XY fine movement mechanism 29 described above further provides a unit for the optical microscope 18.
- the frame is attached to the above-mentioned frame member (not shown) to which the component is attached.
- the observation field of view with the optical microscope 18 includes the surface of the specific area of the sample 12 and the tip (back side) including the probe 20 of the cantilever 21A. .
- a cantilever force set 30 is arranged near the sample holder 16.
- a plurality of other cantilever units 21 are housed and stored in the cantilever cassette 30.
- a plurality of cantilever units 21 are simply arranged in a line.
- a plurality of cantilever units 21 are newly prepared for replacement.
- Each cantilever unit 21 is provided with a probe 20 at a lower portion of a front end portion, and has a cantilever holder 21-1 at a rear end portion (base portion).
- the cantilever force set 30 accommodates a plurality of cantilever units 21 and a space for placing the cantilever unit 21 attached to the mounting portion 22 when the cantilever unit 21 is removed. Is also available.
- This accommodation space of the cantilever cassette 30 is the space in which the currently mounted cantilever unit 21 shown in FIG. 1 was originally accommodated before being attached to the attachment portion 22.
- the controller 32 is, for example, a controller for realizing a measurement mechanism using an atomic force microscope (AFM) in principle.
- the first control device 33 is a control device for drive control of each of a plurality of drive mechanisms and the like, and the second control device 34 is a higher-level control device.
- the comparator 31 compares the voltage signal Vd output from the photodetector 27 with a preset reference voltage (Vref) and outputs a deviation signal s1.
- the controller 32 generates the control signal s2 so that the deviation signal s1 becomes 0, and supplies the control signal s2 to the Z fine movement mechanism 23.
- the Z fine movement mechanism 2 3 adjusts the height position of the cantilever unit 2 1 and The distance between 0 and the surface of sample 12 is kept constant.
- the uneven shape of the sample surface can be measured.
- the first control device 33 is a control device for driving each unit of the scanning probe microscope, and has the following functional units.
- the position of the optical microscope 18 is changed by a driving mechanism 1'7 including a Z-direction moving mechanism 17a for focusing and an XY-direction moving mechanism 17b.
- the Z-direction moving mechanism 17a changes the image focal position
- the XY-direction moving mechanism 17b changes the XY position of the image.
- the first control device 33 includes a first drive control unit 41 and a second drive control unit for controlling the operations of the Z-direction movement mechanism unit 17a and the XY-direction movement mechanism unit 17b, respectively. It has 4 2.
- Images of the sample surface and the force cantilever 21 A obtained by the optical microscope 18 are picked up by the TV camera 19 and extracted as image data.
- the image data obtained by the TV camera 19 of the optical microscope 18 is transferred to the first controller
- the control signal s 2 output from the controller 32 is the height of the probe 20 in the scanning probe microscope (atomic force microscope). Signal. Information on the change in the height position of the probe 20 can be obtained by the height signal of the probe 20, that is, the control signal s 2.
- the control signal s 2 including the height position information of the probe 20 is given to the Z fine movement mechanism 23 for drive control as described above, and is sent to the data processing unit 44 in the control device 33. It is captured.
- the scanning of the sample surface with the probe 20 for the measurement area on the surface of the sample 12 is as follows. 1
- the drive control of the fine movement mechanism 29 is performed by the X-scan control unit 45 that provides the fine scan mechanism s3 to the fine-movement mechanism 29.
- the X stage 14 and the stage 15 of the sample stage 11 are driven by an X drive controller 46 that outputs an X direction drive signal and a drive controller 4 7 that outputs a direction drive signal. And a ⁇ ⁇ drive controller 48 that outputs a ⁇ direction drive signal.
- the mounting / removing operation of the cantilever by this mounting part is performed by attaching / detaching signal s 4 to / from the mounting part 22. This is performed by the mounting control unit 49 that gives
- the first controller 33 stores a set of control data, input optical microscope image data, data relating to the height position of the probe, and the like, as necessary, in a storage unit (not shown). ).
- a second control device 34 positioned higher than the first control device 33 is provided.
- the second control device 34 is used to store normal measurement programs ⁇ Execution and setting of normal measurement conditions ⁇ Storage and storage of automatic measurement programs ⁇ Execution and setting of measurement conditions ⁇ Storage, storage of measurement data and measurement Performs processing such as image processing of the result and display on display device (monitor) 35.
- an exchange process for automatically exchanging a probe in automatic measurement is included, and a probe to be used is selected from the cantilever cassette 30 and attached or attached.
- a program for removing the probe in the state and placing the probe in a predetermined accommodation portion of the force fulcrum 30 is provided.
- the communication device In setting measurement conditions, it has functions such as setting automatic measurement conditions, such as basic items such as measurement range and measurement speed, and storing those conditions in a setting file. Further, the communication device may be configured to have a communication function and have a function of communicating with an external device.
- the second control device 34 is a seat for determining an arbitrary position in a plane area on the sample stage 11 for automatic replacement of the probe according to the present embodiment.
- a target system is set, and it has a function to perform coordinate management based on this coordinate system. According to the coordinate management function, it is possible to manage the movement amount and the movement direction in the XY movement by the XY stage 14 and the XY movement of the optical microscope 18 by the XY movement mechanism 17b.
- the second control device 34 has the above-mentioned functions, and thus includes a CPU 51 as a processing device and a storage unit 52.
- the storage section 52 stores the above-mentioned various programs, condition data, position data, and the like.
- the second control device 34 includes an image display control unit 53, a communication unit, and the like.
- an input device 36 is connected to the second control device 34 via an interface 54, and the measurement programs, measurement conditions, data, etc. stored in the storage unit 52 by the input device 36 are provided. Can be set and changed.
- the CPU 51 of the second control device 34 provides higher-level control commands and the like to each functional unit of the first control device 33 via the bus 55, and the image processing unit 43 and data processing.
- the part 44 provides image data, data on the height position of the probe, and position data of each moving part.
- the tip of the probe 20 of the force cantilever unit 21 is made to face a predetermined region of the surface of the sample 12 such as a semiconductor substrate placed on the sample stage 11.
- the probe 20 is brought close to the surface of the sample 12 by the Z stage 15 which is a probe approach mechanism, and an atomic force is applied to the cantilever 21A to cause bending and deformation.
- the amount of bending of the cantilever 21A due to bending deformation is detected by the optical lever type optical detection device described above. In this state, scanning of the sample surface (XY scanning) is performed by moving the probe 20 with respect to the sample surface.
- the XY scanning of the surface of the sample 12 by the probe 20 is performed by moving (finely moving) the probe 20 side by the XY fine movement mechanism 29 or by moving the sample 12 side by the XY stage 14 ( Coarse motion) to create a relative movement relationship in the XY plane between the sample 12 and the probe 20 It is done by doing.
- the movement of the probe 20 side is performed by giving the XY scanning signal s3 relating to the XY fine movement to the XY fine movement mechanism 29 including the cantilever unit 21.
- the scanning signal s3 related to the XY fine movement is given from the XY scanning control unit 45 in the first control device 33.
- the movement of the sample side is performed by supplying drive signals from the X drive control unit 46 and the Y drive 'control unit 47 to the XY stage 14 of the sample stage 11.
- the XY fine movement mechanism 29 is configured using a piezoelectric element and can perform high-precision and high-resolution scanning movement.
- the measurement range measured by XY scanning by the XY fine movement mechanism 29 is limited by the stroke of the piezoelectric element, and thus is determined by a distance of about 100 m at the maximum. According to the XY scanning by the XY fine movement mechanism 29, the measurement is performed in a narrow range.
- the XY stage 14 is usually configured using an electromagnetic motor as a driving unit, the stroke can be increased to several hundreds of mm. According to the XY scanning by the XY stage, it is possible to measure a wide area.
- the amount of deflection of the force lever 21A based on the feedpack servo control loop (the amount of deformation due to bending, etc.) ) Is controlled to be constant.
- the amount of deflection of the cantilever 21 A is controlled so as to always match the target amount of deflection (set by the reference voltage V ref).
- the distance between the probe 20 and the surface of the sample 12 is maintained at a constant distance. Therefore, the probe 20 moves (scans) while tracing the fine unevenness (profile) of the surface of the sample 12, for example, and obtains the height signal of the probe to obtain the sample 12. It is possible to measure fine irregularities on the surface.
- FIG. 3 is a plan view
- FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
- the cantilever cassette 30 has, for example, a square planar shape, and The surface shape is made of a flat member having a desired thickness.
- the cantilever force set 30 has a cassette table 30a, and is made of a material such as a plastic material, a resin material, or a metal having required strength and accuracy.
- a receiving portion (recess) for disposing, for example, 16 cantilever units 21 is formed on the upper surface of the cassette table 30a.
- the planar shape of the cantilever holder 21-1 is preferably a square, and has a relatively large area. As can be seen from FIG.
- the cantilever 21 A is attached to the lower surface of the front part of the cantilever holder 2 1-1, and the tip of the probe 20 faces downward so that the cantilever 21 A and the cantilever 21 Holder 2 1—1 is placed.
- the cantilever holders 21-1 are stored in each of the 16 accommodation sections formed on the upper surface of the cassette table 30a, and are arranged in the same posture and in the same direction with constant accuracy.
- a through hole 301 is formed in the cassette base 30a at a bottom portion corresponding to a recess accommodating the cantilever holder 21-1.
- the through holes 301 are formed in a number corresponding to the number of cantilevers 21 stored in the cantilever cassette 30.
- the through hole 301 may be concave.
- the manufactured cantilever unit 21 (probe 20) and the force cantilever force set 30 are each assigned a serial number, and the cantilever unit 21 is a force cantilever cassette 3 in a predetermined order. Ordered as 0. Therefore, data on the cantilever unit 21 stored for each force cantilever cassette 30 can be managed.
- the above-mentioned cantilever cassette 30 is arranged, for example, at two cassette installation ports 302 and 303 on the sample stage 11 shown in FIG.
- the position of each cantilever unit 21 on the cantilever cassette 30 arranged at the cassette installation port 302, 303 is determined by the coordinate system described above by the second control device 34. It is managed based on the location.
- the scanning probe microscope having the above configuration is, for example, shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, it is incorporated as an automatic inspection process 62 for inspecting a substrate (wafer) at an intermediate stage, for example, in a semiconductor device (LSI) in-line manufacturing apparatus.
- the substrate (sample 12) to be inspected is unloaded from the previous manufacturing process 61 by a substrate transfer device (not shown), and is placed on the substrate holder 16 of the scanning probe microscope (SPM) in the automatic inspection process 62.
- the substrate is automatically measured by a scanning probe microscope to determine the fine irregularities in a predetermined area on the substrate surface, and the pass / fail status of the substrate production process at the previous stage is determined. It is carried out to processing step 63.
- FIG. 6 shows that after the cantilever unit 21 whose probe has been worn due to the continuation of automatic measurement for a predetermined time is installed in the cantilever cassette 30, a new predetermined cantilever unit 21 is attached to the mounting part 22. The procedure is shown. The illustration of a process of removing the cantilever 21 from the mounting portion 22 and installing the cantilever cassette 30 in a predetermined storage portion of the cantilever cassette 30 is omitted. The movement of the cantilever cassette 30 to a position below the mounting portion 22 is performed by the XY stage 14. FIG.
- FIG. 7 shows a state where alignment is performed in the observation field of view of the optical microscope 18. This alignment corresponds to the processing contents of steps S13 to S15 in FIG.
- the optical microscope 18 as the observation device is moved by the XY movement mechanism 17 b of the drive mechanism 17 to perform positioning: a new force panel unit according to FIG. The procedure for mounting 2 1 to the mounting section 22 will be described.
- the XY stage 14 is driven to move the power set 30.
- the position of each cantilever unit 21 in the cantilever cassette 30 is determined in advance based on coordinate management, and the position of the cantilever cassette 30 is set in advance for the mounting portion 22.
- the selected cantilever unit 21 is moved so as to be selected.
- the selected cantilever unit 21 is mounted on the mounting portion 22 (step S12).
- the Z stage 15 is driven so that the cantilever holder 2 1 — 1 of the cantilever unit 21 selected as shown by the arrow 71 in FIG.
- the mounting section 22 Based on the command signal s4 from the mounting control section 49, the mounting section 22 performs vacuum suction operation (arrow 7 2), and the cantilever holder 2 1-1 is suctioned to the mounting section 22. As a result, the new power unit 21 is attached to the mounting part 22.
- the optical microscope 18 With the cantilever unit 21 attached to the attachment part 22, the optical microscope 18 is moved by the XY movement mechanism part 17b, and focusing is performed by the Z movement mechanism part 17a.
- the objective lens 18a of the optical microscope 18 is focused on the cantilever 21A of the cantilever unit 21 (step S13).
- the focusing position is only the mounting position, and can be performed by a single positioning operation. .
- step S14 the position of the attached cantilever unit 21 is recognized and confirmed.
- the image from the optical microscope 18 is captured by the TV camera 19, and the position of the cantilever 21A of the cantilever unit 21 is specified and recognized.
- the optical microscope 18 Since the mounting position of the image obtained by the optical microscope 18 contains errors, the optical microscope 18 is moved by the XY moving mechanism 17 b and the observation field obtained by the optical microscope 18 is changed. Set the image position of the cantilever 21A to the specified position. At this time, if the mounting position error of the cantilever corresponding to the moving amount of the optical microscope 18 is stored, it can be used for correcting the XY coordinate value at the time of measurement, if necessary.
- FIG. 7 shows the state of the observation field of view of the optical microscope 18 for explaining the state of the final position adjustment by steps S13 to S15.
- FIG. 7A shows an image of the observation field 81 in which the cantilever holder 21-1 of the cantilever unit 21 is ideally and accurately attached to the mounting portion 22.
- the probe 20 in the image (83) of the force cantilever 21A is set.
- the observation field 81 shown in FIG. 7 (B) is in a state.
- the image 83 of the force lever 21A is in the observation field 81.
- the observation field 81 is moved to the location indicated by the reference numeral 81-1-1 as shown by the arrow 84, thereby obtaining the image 83 of the cantilever 21A.
- the tip position of is located at the center position 82 of the observation visual field 8 1-1.
- the side of the observation field 81 is moved by moving the side of the optical microscope 18.
- the cantilever position is detected by a technique such as pattern recognition, and the above-described setting is performed.
- FIG. 7C shows a situation in which the mounting error is large and the image 83 of the cantilever 21A comes out of the observation field 81.
- the image 83 of the force cantilever 21A is searched based on a predetermined search algorithm obtained by an empirical rule or appropriately set. In this case, for example, half the observation field of view 81 is moved to the right (arrow 85), and the observation field of view 81-1-2 is observed. Move half of the field of view (arrow 86) to make the field of view 81-3. In this state, since the image 83 of the cantilever 21A can be observed in the observation field 81--3, the image 83 is placed at the center position 82 of the observation field 81114 by the same method as described above. set. Obviously, the observation field of view may be switched according to the required accuracy.
- the position of the center of the screen of the observation field of view and the position of the tip of the image of the cantilever 21 A in the observation field of view using the optical microscope 18 obtained by the TV camera 19 is determined by the cantilever displacement detector 24.
- the center of the screen in the observation field of view and the position of the tip of the 21 A image are within the adjustable range with respect to the virtual center determined by the mounting error of the laser light source (LD) 26 and the photodetector (PD). It can be implemented on the premise of this.
- LD laser light source
- PD photodetector
- the cantilever of the cantilever unit 21 is mounted on the mounting portion 22 after the holder 21_1 is attached to the mounting portion 22, and then the optical microscope 18 is moved to perform fine adjustment. For this reason, even if an error occurs in the cantilever 21 A attached to the mounting portion 22, the work of remounting does not occur. Therefore, according to the probe exchanging method according to the present embodiment, the probe exchanging can be performed with high accuracy with a shorter exchanging time compared to the conventional probe exchanging method.
- the mounting error is corrected by the optical microscope, but may be corrected by moving the force-lever side.
- a predetermined portion of the sample 12 is automatically measured.
- the positional relationship between the probe and the sample is important, but according to this method, the movement amount of the optical microscope 18 serves as an index indicating the relative relationship, and coordinate management can be performed extremely easily.
- the probe is attached to the mounting portion 22 by vacuum suction.
- FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 1 of the first embodiment
- FIG. 9 corresponds to FIG. 2 of the first embodiment
- the same elements as those described in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals
- the elements described in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Is omitted, and only the special configuration will be described.
- FIGS. 8 and 9 when the cantilever holder 21-1 of the cantilever unit 21 is mounted on the mounting portion 22 by vacuum suction on the upper surface of the sample stage 11 next to the sample holder 16
- a positioning mechanism 101 for adjusting and setting the mounting position in the mounting portion 22 is provided.
- Positioning The mechanism 101 is provided as a positioning port on the sample stage 11.
- FIGS. Fig. 10 shows a plan view of the positioning mechanism 101
- Fig. 11 shows a side view
- Fig. 12 shows a plan view of a state in which the positioning is performed.
- the positioning mechanism 101 is an L-shaped push member 102 having two reference surfaces 102 a having a shape matching the reference surface set by the cantilever holder 21-1 of the cantilever unit 21. It is formed by
- the pushing member 101 is an L-shaped member bent at a substantially right angle.
- the reference surface 102 a is formed on the inner surface side of the pressing member 102.
- the pushing member 102 is fixed to the upper surface of the sample stage 11 in the state shown in FIG.
- the sample stage 11 When the sample stage 11 is moved in the X, ⁇ , and Z directions by the XY stage 14 and the Z stage 15 of the sample stage 11, the sample stage 11 is moved together in accordance with the operation of the sample stage 11. Therefore, the moving operation of the positioning mechanism 101, that is, the moving operation of the pressing member 102, is performed along with the moving operation of the sample stage 11.
- the two reference planes 102 of the pushing member 100 of the positioning mechanism 101 are located on the left and lower sides of the cantilever holder 21 of the cantilever unit 21 as shown in Fig. 12. Touch the side of the side of. In this case, the side surfaces of the left and lower sides in FIG. 12 of the cantilever holder 21-1 of the cantilever burnit 21 are set as reference surfaces.
- the sample stage 11 moves in a state where the new force unit 21 is vacuum-sucked to the mounting unit 22, and the cantilever unit 21 is moved to the positioning mechanism 101 as shown in FIG. 12. It is set at the point. This movement is shown in Figure 13.
- reference numeral 104 denotes another type of force-chinch lever cassette
- reference numeral 105 denotes a cassette base.
- the structures of the cantilever cassette 104 and the cassette table 105 are substantially the same as the cantilever cassette 30 and the force set table 30a described above, respectively.
- 12 cantilever units 21 are arranged in the cantilever cassette 104.
- One cantilever unit 21 on the upper left of the upper part is attached to the mounting part 22 and is moved to the position of the positioning mechanism 101 in the positioning port 107 as shown by the arrow 106. Set in a predetermined positional relationship. In the above set state, as shown in FIG.
- the positioning mechanism 101 pushes the member 102 based on the movement of the sample stage 11 by the movement of the sample stage 11, and the position P 1 indicated by a broken line as indicated by an arrow 103.
- the position of the cantilever unit 21 with respect to the mounting portion 22 can be adjusted by pressing the cantilever holder 21-1.
- the force fulcrum unit 21 is fixed to the mounting portion 22, but has a position-adjustable fixing force based on a vacuum suction action.
- reference numeral 108 denotes a silicon base
- reference numeral 21 A denotes a lever member described above, that is, a cantilever in a narrow sense.
- reference numeral 109 denotes an area of the visual field observed by the optical microscope 18, and 110 denotes a suction area by the mounting portion 22.
- Other configurations are substantially the same as the configurations described in FIGS. 1 and 2.
- FIG. 14 shows the observation field of view 109 in an enlarged scale.
- Figs. 15A and 15B show the cantilever unit 21 with the worn probe tip 20 due to the measurement work. It shows the procedure for automatically attaching a new predetermined cantilever unit 21 to the attachment part 22 after the installation at 0.
- FIG. 14 shows a state where alignment is performed in the observation field of view 109 of the optical microscope 18.
- the reference surface of the cantilever holder 21-1 is moved by moving the push member 102 of the positioning mechanism 101 at the XY stage 14, so that the reference surface 1 of the push member 102 is moved.
- Figures 15A and 15B are connectors 2 shows a series of flowcharts connected by.
- the XY stage 14 is driven to move the cantilever cassette 30.
- the position of each cantilever unit 21 in the cantilever cassette 30 is determined in advance based on coordinate management, and the position of the cantilever cassette 30 with respect to the mounting portion 22 is determined in advance. Move so that the specified cantilever unit 21 is selected.
- step S111 In the mounting position set in step S111, in the subsequent steps, perform positioning steps S114 to S117 to adjust the relative positions of cantilever holder 21-1 and mounting part 22. Therefore, it is sufficient if the adjustment range is sufficient to allow for a sufficient adjustment allowance and a mounting position error due to a variation in the storage position of the force cantilever unit 21 stored in the cantilever cassette 30.
- the selected new cantilever unit 21 is mounted on k, ⁇ O, and the mounting part 22 (step S112).
- the Z stage 15 is driven, and the cantilever holder 2 1 1 1 of the selected cantilever unit 2 1 is attached to the mounting portion 2 2 as shown by the arrow 71 in FIG. , Sensors, etc. (not shown), and make the mounting part 22 perform the vacuum suction operation (arrow 72 in FIG. 6) based on the command signal s 4 from the mounting control part 49, and the cantilever Attach one holder 2 1 — 1 to the mounting section 2 2.
- the cantilever unit 21 is mounted on the mounting portion 22.
- step S 113 with the cantilever unit 21 attached to the attachment part 22, the Z stage 15 is lowered, and then the XY stage 14 is driven to position the positioning mechanism 101. To the lower side of the mounting part 2 2.
- the position to be moved is the coordinate position where the mounting error range where the cantilever unit 21 is attached and the pressing allowance of the positioning mechanism 101 are calculated.
- the reference plane 10 2 a has a height that can press the reference plane of the force cantilever holder 2 1 — 1 and the cantilever holder Raise it to the position where the bottom surface of the damper 2 1-1 does not contact the pusher 102.
- step S114 the XY stage 14 is driven at a predetermined feed amount by moving the reference surface 102a of the pressing member 102 of the positioning mechanism 101 toward the reference surface of the cantilever holder 21-1. To move (fine movement) in the X-axis and Y-axis directions at a small distance. At this time, when the cantilever holder 2 1-1 and the reference surface 102 a of the pressing member 102 come into contact with each other, the mounting member 22 is vacuum-sucked by the mechanical pressing force of the pressing member 102. The relative positional relationship between the cantilever holder 2 2 1-1 and the mounting section 22 changes.
- step S115 when the relative position between the cantilever holder 211 and the mounting part 22 changes, and the image of the cantilever 21A appears in the observation field of view of the optical microscope 18, Image processing is performed on the image of the force lever 21 A captured by the optical microscope 18 to detect the position of the tip 11 1 of the force lever 21 A, and further, in step S 116, While referencing the detection coordinates, the positioning mechanism 101 is driven by moving the XY stage 14 toward the center point 109 A of the observation field 109 of the optical microscope 18. The position of the distal end portion 111 is set so as to be the position of the center point 109A of the observation visual field 109 (step S117).
- the positioning mechanism 101 is moved to some extent by driving the XY stage 14, if the image of the cantilever 21 A cannot be detected within the observation field of the optical microscope 18, the positioning mechanism 1 0 1 in advance, based on the mechanical dimensional information of the part supported by the cantilever holder 2 1-1, the tip of the cantilever 21 1 A
- the XY stage 14 is moved by driving the XY stage 14 to a position set at the center point 109 A of the observation field 109 of the optical microscope 18.
- the free end of the cantilever 21A is mechanically supported with respect to the cantilever holder 21-1 at a position within a predetermined accuracy range.
- step S118 the center point 1 of the observation field 109 of the optical microscope 18
- the status of the mounting of the power lever 21 located at 09 A to the mounting portion 22 of the 1 A is certified and confirmed by using image processing such as pattern recognition. From the image, the position of the center axis 1 1 2 (shown in Fig. 14) and the tip 1 1 1 of the cantilever 1 1 A is detected, and the detected position coordinates of the center axis 1 1 2 and the tip 1 1 1 detected. Is determined and confirmed whether or not is within a set predetermined range (judgment step S 1 19). In the above, a predetermined function may be realized by changing the observation visual field.
- step S119 If NO in determination step S119, an abnormality warning and a stop of the process are executed (step S120). If the determination in step S119 is YES, the process proceeds to the next step S121.
- the detected cantilever 21 A If the coordinate position of the center axis 1 1 2 or the tip 1 1 1 is not within the specified range, the force cantilever unit 21 may fall off or the cantilever 21 A maytilever holder 21-1 Possibly due to improper installation or bending of the cantilever 21A. Therefore, in such a case, the automatic mounting process of the probe is interrupted (step S120). By this operation, a defective cantilever unit 21 such as breakage can be automatically detected.
- next step S121 if the coordinate position of the detected center axis 1 12 or tip 1 1 1 of the cantilever 21A is within the set predetermined range, this coordinate position is used.
- a registration process is performed to register the value of. This registration process is performed every time the cantilever unit is replaced.
- Fig. 16 shows the layout of the optical axis system consisting of the laser light source 26 and the photodetector 27 viewed from the free end of the cantilever 21A.
- Fig. 17 shows the optical microscope 18 The arrangement diagrams of the optical axis system viewed from the observation direction are respectively shown. More specifically, the laser light source 26 is supported by a moving mechanism 26-1 that can move the laser light source 26 in a plane direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser light 28. Thereby, the irradiation position of the laser beam 28 on the back surface of the cantilever 2 OA can be changed.
- the photodetector 27 is supported by a moving mechanism 27-1, which can move the photodetector 27 in a direction parallel to the detection surface.
- the detection position of the light detector 27 can be changed.
- the moving mechanism 26 1 of the laser light source 26 and the photodetector 2 are used.
- Driving the moving mechanism 27-1 of 7 and adjusting the position of the laser light source (denoted as “LD” in the figure) 26 and the photodetector (denoted as “PD” in the figure) 27 (Step S 1 twenty five ) .
- the position of the laser light source 26 is set so as to be the calculated irradiation position of the laser light, which varies depending on the type of the power lever 21A.
- the position of the photodetector 27 is set to be the calculated light receiving position of the laser light reflected from the surface of the cantilever 21A.
- the moving mechanism 26-1 is driven to change the position of the laser light source 26, and the laser light irradiation position within the calculated laser light irradiation target range of the cantilever 21 A is set.
- Scan This scanning operation is performed in the width direction perpendicular to the center axis 112 with respect to the back surface of the cantilever 21A.
- step S127 the output signal Vd of the photodetector 27 is monitored to determine whether or not the output signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Since the light receiving surface of the photodetector 27 is divided into four, the output signal Vd of the photodetector 27 is output as a sum signal of each of the four divided light receiving areas. If the output signal Vd is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the flow shifts to step S131, and if the output signal Vd is lower than the predetermined value, the flow shifts to the next step S128. In step S131, a detailed setting process of the laser light source 26 is executed.
- the process consisting of steps S128 to S130 is based on the fact that the actual optical axis of the laser beam 28 is calculated based on the optical axis of the calculated laser beam due to variations in the individual shapes of the cantilever 21A.
- This is an automatic adjustment process in the case where it is different from the above.
- the moving mechanism 26-1 is driven, and The irradiation position of the laser beam emitted from the laser light source 26 is changed so that the laser beam is emitted around the coordinate position of the center axis 1 1 2 and the tip 1 1 1 of the detected force cantilever 2 1 A. (Step S128).
- step S129 the position of the laser light source 26 is roughly adjusted so that the laser beam irradiation point on the cantilever 21A has the maximum brightness on the image of the optical microscope 18.
- step S130 the position of the photodetector 27 is adjusted by being driven by the moving mechanism 27-1 (step S130).
- the moving mechanism 26 1 1 is driven by monitoring the image of the optical microscope 18 and the output signal V d of the photo detector 27 to drive the laser.
- the irradiation position of the laser beam emitted from the light source 26 is controlled (step S1311), and the moving mechanism 27-1 is driven to change the position of the light detector 27, thereby changing the position of the light detector 27.
- Detailed adjustment is performed so that the laser light receiving surface in 27 is located at the center of the photodetector 27 (step S132).
- the laser light 28 A method for setting the light receiving position to the center position of the photodetector 27 will be described.
- FIG. 18 is a view of the photodetector 27 as viewed from the laser light receiving surface.
- the photodetector 27 is composed of four divided light receiving elements A, B, C and D. Each light receiving element of the photodetector 27 has a mechanism for receiving a laser beam and outputting a received signal in accordance with the energy of the laser beam.
- the fact that the output signal Vd is equal to or more than the predetermined value means that, as shown in FIG. 18B, one of the light receiving elements of the photodetector 27 has the laser light ( Laser spot 1 2 1) is being received.
- the output signal Vd is less than the predetermined value when the energy of the received laser beam (laser spot 122) is smaller than the predetermined value, as shown in FIG. 18 (C). is there.
- the photodetector 27 determines a difference signal for each output voltage of the received signals of the light receiving elements A to D ⁇ (A + D) 1 (B + C) ⁇ , ⁇ (A + B) — (D + C) ⁇ called friction signal, and (A + B + C + D) called sum signal.
- the laser light receiving point (laser spot 1 2 1) can be calculated. It can be seen that the light receiving point of the laser beam can be set to the center point of the photodetector 27 by driving the moving mechanism 27-1.
- the determination step S133 will be described.
- the image obtained by the optical microscope 18 and the TV camera 19 is subjected to image processing, and the optical axis of the laser beam 28 set above is adjusted to an appropriate value for the cantilever 21A.
- This is a step of finally confirming whether the light is irradiated to a proper position.
- a description will be given of a step of confirming whether or not the laser beam 28 has been irradiated to a preset appropriate position on the cantilever 21A.
- FIG. 19 shows the state of the observation field of view of the optical microscope 18 for explaining the final position confirmation of the optical axis adjustment performed in steps S125 to S132.
- (A) shows a state in which the laser beam 28 is applied to an appropriate position on the cantilever 21A.
- Spots 122 are reflection images of laser light 28.
- the state where the laser beam 28 is irradiated to the appropriate position on the force cantilever 21 A means that the laser light irradiation center point is near the force axis of the cantilever 21 A near the center axis. However, it should be as close as possible to the tip position 1 1 1.
- laser light is first irradiated on the cantilever 21A using a method such as binarization of image luminance information using the entire observation field of the optical microscope 18
- the entire area of the portion is determined, and further, the area of the laser beam irradiated portion in the above image processing window 123 is determined, and the ratio is calculated.
- the irradiation ratio of the laser light irradiated within the appropriate irradiation range in the entire irradiation area is obtained. If the calculated ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is assumed that the laser beam 28 has been irradiated to an appropriate position on the back surface of the cantilever 21A.
- the optical axis adjustment which was conventionally performed manually, is automatically performed. It is.
- the probe replacement can be performed with high accuracy with a shorter replacement time as compared with the conventional probe replacement method.
- the positional relationship between the probe and the sample is important, but according to this method, the position coordinates of the tip and center axis of the force cantilever 21A are uniquely determined, so that coordinate management is extremely easy. It can be carried out.
- the shape of the pressing member 102 of the positioning mechanism 101 and the pressing direction of the positioning mechanism 101 against the force-chinch lever holder can be arbitrarily changed.
- the optical microscope is used for wide-area observation, but various types such as a scanning electron microscope and a laser microscope can be used instead.
- the present invention provides a high-precision, short-time, high-precision replacement of worn probes in a scanning probe microscope that sequentially measures a large number of samples, replacement with a different type, or installation of equipment setup, etc. It is used to perform automatically when the device is mounted.
Abstract
Description
Claims
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JP2005511974A JPWO2005010502A1 (ja) | 2003-07-23 | 2004-03-22 | 走査型プローブ顕微鏡の探針交換方法 |
US10/565,509 US20070180889A1 (en) | 2003-07-23 | 2004-03-22 | Probe replacement method for scanning probe microscope |
EP04722442A EP1662246A1 (en) | 2003-07-23 | 2004-03-22 | Probe replacing method for scanning probe microscope |
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US (1) | US20070180889A1 (ja) |
EP (1) | EP1662246A1 (ja) |
JP (1) | JPWO2005010502A1 (ja) |
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US10126325B2 (en) * | 2015-05-22 | 2018-11-13 | Shimadzu Corporation | Scanning probe microscope |
JP6588278B2 (ja) * | 2015-09-01 | 2019-10-09 | 株式会社日立ハイテクサイエンス | 走査プローブ顕微鏡および走査プローブ顕微鏡の光軸調整方法 |
WO2017079374A1 (en) | 2015-11-03 | 2017-05-11 | Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System | Metrology devices for rapid specimen setup |
US20180321276A1 (en) * | 2015-11-03 | 2018-11-08 | Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System | Metrology devices and methods for independently controlling a plurality of sensing probes |
KR102479184B1 (ko) * | 2015-12-07 | 2022-12-19 | 삼성전자주식회사 | 프로브 교환 장치 및 방법 |
US20190317127A1 (en) * | 2016-11-29 | 2019-10-17 | Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek Tno | Scanning probe microscopy system, and method for mounting and demounting a probe therein |
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JP2021162314A (ja) * | 2020-03-30 | 2021-10-11 | 株式会社島津製作所 | 走査型プローブ顕微鏡および走査型プローブ顕微鏡における光軸調整方法 |
WO2022014838A1 (ko) * | 2020-07-14 | 2022-01-20 | 충북대학교 산학협력단 | 인공지능 객체 인식 기술을 이용한 원자 힘 현미경 및 이의 동작 방법 |
NL2026997B1 (en) * | 2020-11-27 | 2022-07-04 | Nearfield Instr B V | Cassete for holding a probe |
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- 2004-03-22 WO PCT/JP2004/003851 patent/WO2005010502A1/ja active Application Filing
- 2004-03-22 KR KR1020067001387A patent/KR100841031B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2004-03-22 US US10/565,509 patent/US20070180889A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2004-03-22 JP JP2005511974A patent/JPWO2005010502A1/ja active Pending
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Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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WO2008147120A3 (en) * | 2007-05-29 | 2009-01-29 | Iucf Hyu | Automatic landing method and apparatus for scanning probe microscope using the same |
JP4768852B2 (ja) * | 2007-05-29 | 2011-09-07 | アイユーシーエフ−エイチワイユー(インダストリー−ユニバーシティ コーオペレーション ファウンデーション ハンヤン ユニバーシティ) | 探針顕微鏡の自動ランディング方法及びそれを用いる自動ランディング装置 |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1662246A1 (en) | 2006-05-31 |
KR20060031694A (ko) | 2006-04-12 |
JPWO2005010502A1 (ja) | 2006-09-28 |
KR100841031B1 (ko) | 2008-06-24 |
US20070180889A1 (en) | 2007-08-09 |
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