Oct
24, 2000 |
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| From "NEW TECHNOLOGY JAPAN", Vol.28 No.7 October, 2000 (issued by JETRO:Japan External Trade Organization) | |||||||||||
TOPICS |
This section describes selected developments of special importance or interest due to the achievement of a breakthrough or innovation in technology. |
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World's Fastest Non-Contact Surface Profiler |
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| Toray Engineering Co., Ltd. has
developed the world's fastest three-dimensional
areal surface profiler SP-500 that is based on
the vertical scanning white-light interferometry
technique. As for the principle of operation of
this surface profiler, when the light reflected
from a specimen surface and the light reflected
from a referential surface interfere, the
generated interference fringe will depend on the
differences of these two light channels, so it
will be possible to observe the uneven shape of
the specimen surface from the interference
fringe. The white-light interferometry surface profiler scans the interference microscope vertically and obtains the point where the interference fringe contrast is the maximum, then measures the target object uneven shape. An interference filter passing only light belonging to a specific narrow wavelength is used, and this wavelength-restricted measurement method is utilized to enable accurate measurements with a small volume of data. The height measurement resolution lies in the order of 10nm. Since the measurement is accomplished by non-contact, the profiler can be applied to a wide range of measurements. The profiler is based upon a new technique developed jointly by Toray Engineering and the Hidemitsu Ogawa Research Team, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and the technology was named the SB (Sampling Theorem for Bandpass Functions) Algorithm. The utilization of this algorithm led to scanning at the world's fastest speed of 50 um/sec, 7-15 times faster than with conventional types of algorithms. A distinct advantage of this profiler is that the field-of-view can be changed optionally by changing the objective lens. The lens magnification is available from 2.5 times to 50 times, and since the algorithm is based on the light interference technique, height measurement can be performed very accurately even with a low magnification lens. Also, while keeping a measurement resolution in the nanometer order, the measurement range is as wide as 100 um, and shape measurements are possible even when there are steppes. A much wider measurement range of 350 um is also available optionally. The profiler also features a wide range of applications and can be employed independently by research and development organizations, also can be incorporated into automatic measurement systems with ease. Windows NT is used as the personal computer operation station. The profiler is ideal for the three-dimensional areal measurements of semiconductors, LCDs, plastic films, optical components and precision machinery parts. The microscope has a size of (W)300 x (D)700 x (H)500mm, the personal computer rack a size of (W)700 x (D)800 x (H)1,400mm, and the profiler is marketed at a domestic price of \10 million. |
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