Study on On-Machine Visualization of Surface Processing Phenomena in Nanoscale

6th report: Displacement verification in the third dimension of single nanoparticle

Abstract

The nanoscale phenomena, such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, present near the surface. A three-dimensional nanoparticle tracking could explain the phenomena that happen in the polishing process. From our previous report, we have investigated the three-dimensional motion of an individual standard nanoparticle by using optical method, but the height Z on the third dimension was not accurately verified. In this report, the sub-100 nm individual nanoparticles were fixed on the tip which the tip was connected to the piezo actuator for controlling the height Z displacement. The multi-wavelength evanescent fields with optical microscopy system is also applied in the experiment for three-dimensional nanoparticle tracking. The scattering light from nanoparticle will exponentially increase when the nanoparticle on the tip was downward moved close to the reference surface. Finally, The height Z uncertainty could be measured approximately ±25 nm and the penetration height measurability were 200 nm far from the reference surface. We could three-dimensionally track the individual standard nanoparticle in recording speed higher than 50 frames per second for exposure time less than 10 milliseconds.