4.1        Start the software

4.1.1 Enable the tool in iLab
4.1.2 Double click the Profiler 8.0 icon.  The software will open up to the Catalog page.
4.1.3 Press the Scan Recipe button.

4.2        Choose an existing recipe by selecting a recipe then pressing View/Modify button or make a new recipe by pressing New button.

4.3 Press XY button to switch to camera mode:

4.4        Load Your Sample

a. Press the MAN LOAD button, this will move the stage towards you.
b. Once the stage has stopped, open the door.
c. Observe the 5 small vacuum ports near the center of the chuck

4.5 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. 

4.6 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:
You can cover the vacuum ports with other small pieces of silicon or glass. You can mount your small sample to a larger carrier wafer that covers all the vacuum ports.

4.7 Close the door

4.8 Press MAN LOAD again to move the chuck into the measurement position.

4.9 Verify the sample is in the center of the stage and under the stylus

4.10 Press the FOCUS button, this will move the stylus head down to the surface of the sample.
NOTE: The movement can be stopped at any time by pressing the “Esc” key on the keyboard.

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

4.12 Click and drag (from left to right) to define the stylus scan path. The path will be indicated by a blue line with an arrow indicating the scan direction.

4.13 Refer to Section5 of this document if the scan parameters need be adjusted

4.14 Press the START button at the top of the menu bar

4.15          Once the scan is finished, press the LEVEL button at the top menu bar

4.16          Drag, pull and manipulate the left and right Level bar cursors to define a flat and even plane - the left and right cursors must be on the same plane

4.17          Press the LEVEL button a second time to planarize the scan results

4.18          Position the left and right Measurement cursors to define the differential step

4.19          Record the difference in height between the two cursors displayed next to St Height

4.20          Press the STATS button on the top menu bar to view more analysis options. Select the analysis option before pressing the Calc button to recalculate for the selection

4.21          Press the Apex Analysis button for additional analysis software options. There will be different options available to save the data.

4.22          If another measurement location is to be measured, press the XY button to move the sample and redefine the scan path.

4.23          When finished, press the XY button

4.24          Press the MAN LOAD button which will cause the stage to move toward the front of the tool

4.25          After the stage movement stops, open the door

4.26          Turn off the vacuum switch

4.27          Carefully remove your sample from the stage

4.28          Close the door

4.29       Press the MAN LOAD button which will cause the stage to move toward the home position

4.30        Exit the software and log out of iLab

5.1          Review and configure the scan parameters

5.1.1.             X Scan Size = scan length (blue arrow length)

5.1.2.            Scan Speed (slower for less noise)

5.1.3.            Sampling Rate (amount of data collected)

5.1.4.            Scan Direction (Always scan left to right)

5.1.5.            Applied Force (Use 1 mg force for soft metals or polymers & use 2 mg force for metals and semiconductors

5.1.6.             Range/Resolution (Ensure the step height maximum of the feature on interest is within this range)

5.2.          For short scans, 2mm and smaller, the general rule of thumb is to keep the scan time between 5 and 10 seconds

5.3.                 The General Parameters tab, and the Roughness Waviness tab may be used to determine slope, area, roughness, and other parameters from your scan analysis.

5.4.          The MicroHead V SR (standard range) has a vertical range of 327 um, and is capable of scanning at forces between 0.5 and 5 mg

5.5.          The BNC unit has a 2 mm radius tip with a 60° angle installed that limits the maximum force to 2mg

5.6.          A manual theta stage with stops at 45° increments and a fine theta adjustment of + 5°.

5.7.          The P7 Stylus profiler at Purdue is equipped with the standard head configuration capable of 150mm scan lengths

5.8.          Resolution is approximately 10 angstroms and a 20 angstroms noise floor

5.9.          The software controlled motorized stage rides on a 12-inch optical flat

5.10.       Vertical range 10 mm to 327mm

5.11.       Substrate size from 3mmX3mm up to 150mm diameter

5.12.       2mm radius diamond stylus with 60° cone angle tip

513.       Sample Surface Limitations

5.13.1.        No uncured SU8

5.13.2.        No uncured PDMS

5.13.3.        No uncured photoresists

5.13.4.        No other soft materials that might stick to the stylus

6.1.          Verify the tool is enabled in iLab

6.2.          Verify the computer is powered on

6.3.          Login if the KLA-Tencor software is not running (shown in Figure1)

6.3.1.          Username: Operator

6.3.2.          Password: research

6.4.          Double click on the Profiler 8.0 icon

6.5.          Verify the sample has been removed sample from the stage and the stage is in the home position
NOTE: This shutdown is for special circumstances, it will power down the system

6.6.          Exit out of the software

6.7.          Disable the tool in iLab