A novel technique* under development at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses a relatively inexpensive
optical microscope to quickly and cheaply analyze nanoscale dimensions with
nanoscale measurement sensitivity. Termed "Through-focus Scanning Optical Microscope"
(TSOM) imaging, the technique has potential applications in nanomanufacturing,
semiconductor process control and biotechnology.
This schematic shows how a TSOM image is acquired. Using an optical microscope, several images of a 60 nanometer gold particle sample (shown in red) are taken at different focal positions and stacked together to make the TSOM image. Credit: NIST
Optical microscopes are not widely considered for checking nanoscale (below
100 nanometers) dimensions because of the limitation imposed by wavelength of
light—you can’t get a precise image with a probe three times the
object’s size. NIST researcher Ravikiran Attota gets around this, paradoxically,
by considering lots of "bad" (out-of-focus) images. "This
imaging uses a set of blurry, out-of-focus optical images for nanometer dimensional
measurement sensitivity," he says. Instead of repeatedly focusing on a
sample to acquire one best image, the new technique captures a series of images
with an optical microscope at different focal positions and stacks them one
on top of the other to create the TSOM image. A computer program Attota developed
analyzes the image.
While Attota believes this simple technique can be used in a variety of applications,
he has worked with two. The TSOM image can compare two nanoscale objects such
as silicon lines on an integrated circuit. The software "subtracts"
one image from the other. This enables sensitivity to dimensional differences
at the nanoscale—line height, width or side-wall angle. Each type of difference
generates a distinct signal.
TSOM has also been theoretically evaluated in another quality control application.
Medical researchers are studying the use of gold nanoparticles to deliver advanced
pharmaceuticals to specific locations within the human body. Perfect size will
be critical. To address this application, a TSOM image of a gold nanoparticle
can be taken and compared to a library of simulated images to obtain "best-match"
images with the intent of determining if each nanoparticle passes or fails.
This new imaging technology requires a research-quality optical microscope,
a camera and a microscope stage that can move at preset distances. "The
setup is easily under $50,000, which is much less expensive than electron or
probe microscopes currently used for measuring materials at the nanoscale,"
Attota explains. "This method is another approach to extend the range
of optical microscopy from microscale to nanoscale dimensional analysis."
So far, sensitivity to a 3 nm difference in line widths has been demonstrated
in the laboratory.
* R. Attota, T.A. Germer and R.M. Silver. Through-focus scanning-optical-microscope
imaging method for nanoscale dimensional analysis, Optics Letters 33, 1990 (2008).