CMOS+transistor+circuitry+with+AFM

2009 June 19:

We looked at the edge of a wafer with CMOS circuits on it with the miniAFM. We did see some very faint features with the AFM scan, but nothing with sharp edges. We suspect that the features were covered in some material, causing the faintness of the images from the AFM.



Try #2: After getting some lunch (brain power), we discovered that the problem might have been operational---ZOutput was too large on the above scan. As well, Hannah Olsen, changed our tip (AFM probe). This was her first try, and she got perfect placement on the tip's bed!

With the new tip and different parameters, we looked at another location on the wafer.

We did get a really nice image--shown below. The white spots show dirt/dust/particulate on the surface. The orange-brown carpet is most likely an oxide layer on the surface of the wafer. The 10.7 micron scan shows some artifacts (white steaks near the top of the scan). These are due to vibrations (a nearby door was open and shut).

This location was more rough.

Try #3:

Third time was a charm. We found a location on the wafer with a clearly defined rectangular wire and a pattern of holes. As well, we opened up our visible field to 33.4 microns, and we increased our ZOutput to 0.7 microns.