ADVANCED ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY SCANNING FOR OBTAINING A TRUE SHAPE
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- 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.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Advanced atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods and apparatuses are presented. An embodiment may comprise performing a first scan at a first angle, a second scan at a second angle, and correcting a system drift error in the first scan based on the second scan. Another embodiment may comprise performing a global scan of a first area, a local scan of a second area within the first area, correcting a leveling error in the local scan based on the global scan, and outputting a corrected sample image. Another embodiment may comprise performing a first scan at a first position at a first angle, a second scan at a flat region using the same scan angle and scan size to correct a scanner runout error in the first scan based on the second scan.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus comprising:
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. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus comprising:
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. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An apparatus comprising:
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. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
Specification