Specific Process Knowledge/Characterization/Profiler

From LabAdviser

Dektak 8 stylus profiler

Dektak8: positioned in cleanroom 4 - glass cage no. 3

Dektak 8 stylus profiler is a product of Veeco Instruments. It is usable for profiling surfaces of samples with structures in the micrometer range. It can measure in a specific point found with help from high magnification video cameras or it can be programmed to measure several points defined with respect to some deskew points. It can also be used for stress measurements of thin films by measuring the wafer bow.

To get some product information and some tips and tricks from the vendor take a look at Veeco's homepage [1]

A rough overview of the performance of Dektak 8 stylus profiler

Purpose Film thickness measurements and optical characterization of optically transparent thin films
  • Measurement of (multi layer) film thickness (only one unknown layer)
  • Optical constants
Performance Thin film materials that can be measured

Any film that is transparent to the light in the given wavelength range ex:

  • Silicon Oxide
  • Silicon nitride
  • PolySilicon
  • Photoresists
  • SU8
  • Other polymers
  • Very thin layers of metals (<20 nm)
  • and many more
. Film thickness range
  • ~20Å to 2 µm (depending of the material)
Process parameter range Wavelength range
  • 300-950 nm
Substrates Batch size
  • One sample at a time - all sample larger than about 1x1 cm2sizes up to about 6"
. Substrate material allowed
  • In principle all materials



Tencor stylus profiler