Tencor profilometer

Tencor profilometer

Essentials
Full name	KLA Tencor D-120
Manufacturer	KLA-Tencor Corp.
Description	Profilometer
Location	Cleanroom 2
Responsibility
Primary	Nader
Secondary	Claus

The KLA-Tencor profilometer (profiler) is a sample surface height and roughness characterization tool. A stylus tip is pressed to the surface with a small force (0.1-10 mg) and dragged across the sample surface.

Most users at NBI use it to measure:

• resist
• films deposited by ALD
• films deposited by PVD

Other alternatives to measure film thickness at the NBI cleanroom facilities:

• Bruker Dimension Icon AFM
• Alpha-SE ellipsometer for transparent films
• Filmetrics reflectometer for transparent films
• in some cases, JEOL 7800F SEM

Quick-start guide

Video on how to operate the Tencor profilometer:

Click here to watch the video on YouTube

Load your sample

1. Open lid
2. Place your sample in stage center
   • The stylus scans only along the axis from the center of the room towards the wall behind the tool
3. Align the step feature perpendicular to the scan axis
4. In the software, drive stylus up to a safe height (a couple of mm above the substrate) using Z Stage arrows on the right side of the window
5. Click Load Positions
6. Center: Go To
   • Stage moves in and centers under the stylus
7. Close lid
8. Ok

Find the step to scan

1. Bring down the stylus using Z Stage at medium speed (~50%)
   • You should start seeing the reflection of the stylus on your sample
2. Reduce speed (~25%) before moving closer
3. Drive to area of interest using arrows in X-Y Stages

Perform the scan

1. When at the desired scan start position, click Engage
2. In the Scan Parameters panel at the bottom of the screen set Speed, Length, and Profile according to your needs
3. Set Range according to your expected step height
4. Set Stylus Force
   • 1.0 mg is a good starting point
   • If the stylus doesn't move during the scan, try less force
5. In the toolbar of the Video Capture window, click ▶ Scan

Process the scan data

1. Drag the cursors R (reference) and M (measurement) to different positions at the same height on the substrate
2. Expand the cursor widths as much as possible
3. Click Level Data in the right of the screen
4. Drag one cursor to the step and adjust the width
   • Keep the other cursor at the reference level
5. Read the step height at Delta Height

Unload your sample

1. Close all data windows
2. Increase Z Stage speed
3. Drive the stylus pup to a safe gheight
4. Click Load Positions
5. Unload all the way out: Go To
   • Wait for stage to drive out
6. Unload sample
7. Ok
8. Done!

Troubleshooting

If your sample is too tilted (the data hits the range limits)

1. Drive stylus away from surface using Z Stage
2. Turn the angle adjustment wheel counter-clockwise to level a negative slope, or clockwise to level a positive slope
3. Perform a scan to test the tilt correction and readjust if necessary
4. Tilt is correctly adjusted if you can level the entire scan