Quantitative characterisation of nanoimprinted structures using metrological large range AFM and CDAFM. (1st January 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dai, Gaoliang; Danzebrink, Hans-Ulrich; Fluegge, Jens; Bosse, Harald
• Is Part Of: International journal of nanomanufacturing. Volume 8:Number 5/6(2012)
• Page Start: 372
• Page End: 391
• Publication Date: 2012-01-01
• Subjects: nanoimprint lithography -- NIL -- nanoscale dimensional metrology -- atomic force microscopy -- AFM -- critical dimension atomic force microscope -- CDAFM -- metrology; Nanostructured materials industry -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-9392

Abstract

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a promising method for low-cost, high throughput patterning of nanoscale devices and systems. Quantitative characterisation of nanoimprinted structures is of high importance not only to ensure the quality of the structures but also to monitor/control the manufacturing processes. In this paper, two atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are presented which are applicable for the related measurement purpose. One is a metrological large range AFM (met. LR-AFM) with a measurement volume of (25 × 25 × 5) mm 3 . The other instrument is a critical dimension AFM (CDAFM) with a specially developed vector approach probing (VAP) strategy for 3D measurements of nanostructures. The met. LR-AFM had assisted in diagnosing the quality issues of NIL manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the calibration of two nanoscale standards fabricated by NIL is presented, taking into account influences of defects and stitching errors. Other parameters of the nanoimprinted structures like e.g. CD, corner rounding, sidewall slope as well as line edge roughness were quantitatively determined.