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Real-Time Scanning Charged-Particle Microscope Image Composition with Correction of Drift

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2010

Petr Cizmar ,
András E. Vladár  and
Michael T. Postek
Petr Cizmar
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
András E. Vladár*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
Michael T. Postek
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: andras@nist.gov
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Abstract

In this article, a new scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image composition technique is described, which can significantly reduce drift related image corruptions. Drift distortion commonly causes blur and distortions in the SEM images. Such corruption ordinarily appears when conventional image-acquisition methods, i.e., “slow scan” and “fast scan,” are applied. The damage is often very significant; it may render images unusable for metrology applications, especially where subnanometer accuracy is required. The described correction technique works with a large number of quickly taken frames, which are properly aligned and then composed into a single image. Such image contains much less noise than the individual frames, while the blur and deformation is minimized. This technique also provides useful information about changes of the sample position in time, which may be applied to investigate the drift properties of the instrument without a need of additional equipment.

Keywords

SEMimage acquisitiondrift correctionreal time
Type
SEM Image Acquisition
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 302 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2011

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Footnotes

Contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); not subject to copyright. Certain commercial equipment is identified in this report to adequately describe the experimental procedure. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the NIST, nor does it imply that the equipment identified is necessarily the best available for the purpose.

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