Overview

General Description

The KLA-Tencor P-10 Profiler measures step height, waviness and roughness of a surface.  It can accommodates up to 200 mm (8") diameter substrates, and measures vertical features ranging from the nanoscale to approximately 300 um.  Small samples may need to be adhered to a carrier wafer for measurement.

Standard Operating Procedure

This instruction covers the set-up and safe use of the KLA-Tencor P10 Stylus Profiler.  This machine is a stylus contact profiler capable of 150mm scan lengths with ~10Å resolution and ~20Å noise floor.  It is capable of measuring step height, roughness, and waviness on samples with a firm surface.

1.    SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

1.1        Eye protection must be worn whenever in the cleanroom, except when using a microscope or when wearing protective goggles.

1.2        Information regarding the hazardous materials used in this lab may be found through SDS documentation located on the Wiki.

1.3        Operate the P10 Stylus Profiler with all protective shields and doors in place.   

1.4        Do not reach into the tool except to place your sample on the chuck. Do not put your hands under the scan head, or you may damage the stylus.

2.    EQUIPMENT

2.1        KLA-Tencor P10 Stylus Profiler

2.2        Floating isolation optical table

2.3        VLSI Standards:
             2.3.1    VLSI Step Height Standard, 8.00 um
             2.3.2    VLSI Step Height Standard, 9400Å (940nm)

3.    TOOL CONFIGURATION

3.    TOOL LIMITATIONS

The performance of the tool is dependent upon proper operation by the user, and by not exceeding the tool capability. 

3.1        Do not try to measure samples that are too thick and too big in size for the instrument.

3.2        Do not measure step heights that are beyond the range of the instrument.

3.3        Do not move the stage with the stylus lower than the top of the sample surface.

3.4        Always scan left to right.  This protects the stylus.

 Sample size requirements/restrictions

• Vertical range 0 to 300 um
• Substrate sizes from 3mm x 3mm up to 150mm in diameter.
• 2 um radius diamond stylus with 60° cone angle
• Maximum scan length of 150mm

 Material Limitations:

• No uncured SU8
• No uncured PDMS
• No uncured photoresists
• No soft materials that might stick to the stylus

4.    CYCLE OF OPERATIONS

4.1        Start the software

• Enable the tool in iLab

• Double click the Profiler icon.  The software will open up to the Top Level Menu page.

• Select the Scan icon

4.2        Choose an existing recipe by placing the cursor over the recipe and double left click (_STEPHTH; 327um or less, _STEPHTM; 65um or less, _STEPHTL; 13um or less). The recipe selection will depend on the size of the sample step to be measured.

4.3        Press XY button to switch to camera mode:

4.4        Load Your Sample

•               Press the MAN LOAD button, this will move the stage towards you.
•               Once the stage has stopped, open the door.

4.5        Observe the 5 small vacuum ports near the center of the chuck, then:

• Load your sample with extreme care, and place it in the exact center of the chuck.

 Note:  Keep your hand away from the stylus head to avoid damage to the instrument. 

• Turn on the vacuum switch to keep your sample from sliding around.
  
  Note:  If your sample is so small that it does not fully cover all 5 vacuum ports, you will need to get creative:
  • 1. You can cover the vacuum ports with other small pieces of silicon or glass.
    2. You can mount your small sample to a larger carrier wafer that covers all the vacuum ports.
       
       
• Close the door
• Press MAN LOAD again to move the chuck into the measurement position.

4.6        Double check to make sure the sample is in the center of the stage.

4.7       Press the FOCUS , this will move the stylus head down to the surface of the sample

             NOTE: Pressing the spacebar will stop the movement of the measurement assembly

4.8        Use the arrows or click on the image to position the sample for measurement

 4.9        Once your feature is in view, click and drag (from left to right) to define your scan path. 

• • This shows up as a blue arrow.
  • Press OK when you are satisfied.

4.10           Refer to Section 5 of this document if the scan parameters need be adjusted

Additional Scan Hints and Tips:

• • If you scan too fast, you may miss out on some roughness data, and might overshoot some step heights on the trailing edge of travel.
  • For short scans, 2mm and smaller, the general rule of thumb is to keep the scan time between 5 and 10 seconds.
  • The General Parameters tab, and the Roughness Waviness tab may be used to determine slope, area, roughness, and other parameters from your scan analysis.
  • If you need to adjust the scan path, you may press the XY button.

4.11      Once all your scanning parameters are set, press the START button in the top menu bar.

5.    Analyze the scan

After the scan completes, your data will display in the Analysis Window

5.1        Leveling your scan.

              If your data is not level, you may level it and define a flat plane in the software

• • Press the Level button.
  • Drag, pull, and manipulate the left and right Level cursors to define flat and even planes.
  • Press Level button again to flatten the selected planes.

5.2        Measuring your step height

• • Drag, pull, and manipulate the left and right Measure cursors to define the differential step
  • Read the difference in height between the two cursors with the St Height value at the left

 5.3        To measure another area different from the first:

• • Press the XY button in the menu bar
  • Reselect your scan path with your blue area.  Press OK in the bottom right corner.
  • Confirm all your scan settings.

5.4         SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (Edit Recipes and Performance Specifications)

EDITING RECIPES

• • Review and configure the scan parameters
    • Scan Length = represented by the blue arrow length
    • Scan Speed (mm/s)
    • Sampling Rate (amount of data collected)
    • Scan Direction (Always scan left to right)
    • Applied Force (Use 1 mg force for soft metals or polymers & use 2 mg force for metals and semiconductors
    • Range/Resolution (Ensure the step height maximum of the feature on interest is within this range)
  • For short scans, 2mm and smaller, the general rule of thumb is to keep the scan time between 5 and 10 seconds
  • The General Parameters tab, and the Roughness Waviness tab may be used to determine slope, area, roughness, and other parameters from your scan analysis.
  • The MicroHead V SR (standard range) has a vertical range of 300 mm, and is capable of scanning at forces between 0.5 and 5 mg
  • The BNC unit has a 2 mm radius tip with a 60° angle installed and ask that all users limit the maximum force to 2mg
  • The motorized theta stage is controlled with the rotating arrow buttons on the XY screen.

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS

• • The P10 Stylus profiler at Purdue is equipped with the standard head configuration capable of 150mm scan lengths
  • Resolution is approximately 10 angstroms and a 20 angstroms noise floor
  • The software controlled motorized stage rides on a 12-inch optical flat
  • Vertical range les than 1-micron to 300-microns
  • Substrate size from 3mmX3mm up to 150mm diameter
  • 2 mm radius diamond stylus with 60° cone angle tip
  • Sample Surface Limitations
    • No uncured SU8
    • No uncured PDMS
    • No uncured photoresists
    • No other soft materials that might stick to the stylus

6.    Unload Your Sample

6.1        Press the XY button and then the MAN LOAD button.  This will raise the stylus head, and move the stage towards you.             

6.2        Open the door once the stage has stopped moving.             

6.3        Turn off the vacuum switch, and carefully remove your sample from the stage. 

6.4        Close the door. 

6.5        Press the MAN LOAD button again to return the stage to its home position. 

6.6        Exit out of the software at the end of your session. 

6.7        Disable use of the machine within i-Labs.

7.    REVISION RECORD 

Here is the SOP:

This is the P7 Control Chart:  

References

Manufacturers Manual