Could you view AND measure this in your SEM?
The SEM is a well established method of providing high quality images with large depth of field with very comprehensive X-ray analysis. What it does not provide however is the ability to measure complex shapes and surface finish that are a requirement in many materials and engineering research and industrial segments.
The image of a micro MeX plate shown above is an example; it is 700 µm x 550 µm x 150 µm high with gaps of less than 40 µm and the requirement is to image and measure form and surface finish. This image is produced on the Alicona InfiniteFocus optical measurement system using the Focus Variation technology, It is built into an easy to use package, no sample preparation is required and no vacuum is required. This makes it ideal for porous-type samples that do not perform well in vacuum.
The operating principle of focus variation moves the small depth of focus of an optical system, combined with modulated light, over the object with continuous vertical scanning, producing a topographic 3D data model of the surface. As the distance between the object and objective is varied the variation of sharpness is used for measuring 3D depth information and a dense 3D point cloud is obtained. This 3D point cloud can be then used to measure features and surface finish and also used for reverse engineering and comparison against CAD data.
Focus Variation will allow the measurement of 'Z' heights from 10 nm up to 22 mm, near vertical walls from 800 with interspacing below 10 µm, and radius down to 2 µm, with complete surface measurement and characterization.
This technique does not replace the SEM and its capabilities, it can generally be considered as complimentary. It maybe is an alternative in cases where only imaging and/or measurement is required.
Contact: Alicona GmbH. www.alicona.com
Information from sales@alicona.com
