Bruker is the pioneer in nanomechanical process metrology. Our Hysitron metrology equipment has been vital in successfully developing and implementing next-generation thin films and processes used in the semiconductor and MEMS industries. By providing high-resolution mechanical property measurements, fab engineers have been able to more quickly identify process variations that may degrade the functionality or reliability of the device being manufactured. Additionally, the interdependence of a material’s structure-processing-mechanical property relationships provides new insights into process variations that may be more challenging and more time consuming to identify through other means.
Interfacial adhesion has always been a slow to characterize and provided an average adhesion value over a relatively large area. Nanomechanical metrology can rapidly perform localized interfacial adhesion measurements on thin films without the need for sample preparation. These interfacial adhesion testing techniques assure consistency of thin film pre-deposition cleaning processes combined with the first atomic layer of material being deposited.
