Ph.D. Proposal Presentation by K. Meghan Shilling
Thursday, May 20, 2004

(Dr. Thomas Kurfess, Chair)

"Edge Characterization for Mesoscale Parts"

Abstract

This work focuses on the measurement of mesoscale parts, those on the order of 100?m, with 100nm to 100?m features. Measurement is important both for part qualification and for process characterization. Because many mesoscale manufacturing processes are in the early stages of development, process characterization is of especially high importance.

In traditional part metrology, a data set representing the part in three dimensions is often collected and compared to the desired part. Although there are several methods for data collection, these methods are inappropriate for mesoscale parts due to size constraints. Mesoscale metrology currently relies on methods developed for silicon microlithography and surface measurements. These measurement techniques were developed to collect two dimensional information. Many of these methods are capable of meaasuring a single, mostly planar, surface of a mesoscale part. However, all of the measurement techniques encounter difficulty measuring non-square edges. Currently, no good method exists for the characterization of edge structures in mesoscale parts. This work will create a methodology for mesoscale edge characterization. This includes a design of experiments as well as calibration of the measurement tool, fixturing of the part, measurement and analysis of the edge structure, and integration of edge and surface data.