Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Method of and atomic force microscopy system for performing subsurface imaging
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Application No.: US16500516Application Date: 2018-04-04
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Publication No.: US11268935B2Publication Date: 2022-03-08
- Inventor: Daniele Piras , Paul Louis Maria Joseph van Neer , Maarten Hubertus van Es , Hamed Sadeghian Marnani
- Applicant: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
- Applicant Address: NL s-Gravenhage
- Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
- Current Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
- Current Assignee Address: NL s-Gravenhage
- Agency: Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
- Priority: EP17164817 20170404
- International Application: PCT/NL2018/050209 WO 20180404
- International Announcement: WO2018/186742 WO 20181011
- Main IPC: G01N29/06
- IPC: G01N29/06 ; G01Q60/32 ; G01Q70/06

Abstract:
The document relates to a method of performing subsurface imaging of embedded structures underneath a substrate surface, using an atomic force microscopy system. The system comprises a probe with a probe tip, and a sensor for sensing a position of the probe tip. The method comprises the steps of: positioning the probe tip relative to the substrate: applying a first acoustic input signal to the substrate; applying a second acoustic input signal to the substrate; detecting an output signal from the substrate in response to the first and second acoustic input signal; and analyzing the output signal. The first acoustic input signal comprises a first signal component and a second signal component, the first signal component comprising a frequency below 250 megahertz and the second signal component either including a frequency below 2.5 megahertz or a frequency such as to provide a difference frequency of at most 2.5 megahertz with the first signal component, such as to enable analysis of an induced stress field in the substrate; and wherein the second acoustic input signal comprises a third signal component having a frequency above 1 gigahertz, such that the return signal includes a scattered fraction of the second acoustic input signal scattered from the embedded structures. This enables to perform imaging a various depths in one pass, across a large range of depths.
Public/Granted literature
- US20200057028A1 METHOD OF AND ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING SUBSURFACE IMAGING Public/Granted day:2020-02-20
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