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We developed a new 3D-AFM technique that enables imaging of high aspect ratio trenches. By measuring both lateral and vertical forces on a cantilever tip, a subharmonic mode based on the attractive tip-sample forces becomes feasible. This enables the measurement of true 3D information of samples without causing damage. This is especially relevant for semiconductor metrology, as current solutions are lagging behind the development of (near-future) lithography capabilities. Our goal: measure metrology parameters such as critical dimension (CD), side wall angle (SWA), Line edge Roughness (LER), etc.

This project is aiming to realize miniature self-contained carriers that can independently perform positioning and scanning tasks on nano-scale. Such carriers can support agents for performing tasks such as inspection, deposition, repair, and cleaning. All at the nano-scale. The carriers can make large movements in X-and Y-direction and have a smaller range in Z, and rotations. This is sufficient to cover relevant surfaces in, for instance, semicon industry, such as wafers and reticles.

TNO’s FSM technology is based on a unique electromagnetic actuator. The key benefits of this technology for are: Large range; ±2˚ optical range (both axis) - High band width: Closed loop bandwidth > 1kHz - Highly compact; ø27x30mm with ø20mm mirror - Reliable; Redundant windings, no wear, Passed life-time testing.

Over the last decade TNO has developed a deformable mirror concept using electromagnetic actuators with the main advantages of having very low non-linearity and hysteresis, low power consumption, and high inherent reliability of the actuators. TNO recently started a program to redesign the electromagnetic actuator to improve the actuator efficiency, allowing higher actuator force per volume and per wattage. The increased actuator efficiency gives improvement of the DM performance in terms of dynamical performance, actuation range, and power dissipation. With this technology various applications in the fields of ground-based astronomy and space missions are targeted.