Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:09:33 -0500 James, Could you send the images of the sample post? You should be able to see the piezo mounts in the CCD view to tell if the ball is missing or damaged. When the sample holder is loaded, does it release smoothly from the robot arm or is it jerky? Another thought would be to check the inserts for the two other post, not the fixed, and see if either of the screws to adjust the level of the holder are loose; even slightly. This could maybe cause a slight movement of the holder and result in changes in WD. Call when you can. Regards, Kevin Dr. Kevin E. Burcham, Ph.D. Applications Scientist Raith USA, Inc. 2805 Veteran's Highway, Suite 23 Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 Telephone: 631.738.9500 X14 Facsimile: 631.738.2055 Email: kb@raithusa.com -----Original Message----- From: James Conway [mailto:jwc@snf.stanford.edu] Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 10:19 PM To: raith@snf.stanford.edu Cc: Kevin Burcham; Cole Loomis -- RAITH USA. Subject: Problem RAITH SNF 2007-02-14 16:21:21: Standard sample holder not landing onto piezo post properly kevin or cole, Hope to speak with you in the morning tomorrow. I mapped both wafer height on the Std. Sample holder and the surface of the sample holder itself after driving the center of the wafer (0,0 UV) to 5 mm and see significant offsets from level despite using a calibrated center positions of the piezo post. Up to 0.5 mm across the pallet. I made some maps of heights from two different loads on the Std. Sample Holder. Following up with phone with Kevin last Friday: Yes I think we have a problem with P1 the fixed piezo post. I have been troubleshooting some strange reports from users whom indicated that initially the Z drive was loosing its calibration; when in fact the sample holder may not be landing correctly onto the P mounts or now more likely the jewel tip on P1 may have become damaged or simply worn itself out. Also have been troubleshooting several reports of strange EBL results such as triangles and 100 nm squares being circular and not well defined . I suspected out of focus by users now I suspect the P1 Post. Flatness of the Std. sample holder appears fine when placed on machine plate gage. i.e., it doesn't rock or appear bent. But I don't have any dimensions or specs for this assembly to check to. I have some SEM's of each post... P1 looks really different that the others. cracked or worn on the periphery. Problem RAITH SNF 2007-02-14 16:21:21: SUBJECT: Standard sample holder not landing onto piezo post properly. Attention All RAITH Users: PROBLEM ON RAITH: STANDARD SAMPLE HOLDER NOT LANDING ON KINETIC MOUNTS -- DAMAGED PIEZO POST... I have been troubleshooting several user reports of irregularly shaped or poorly defined written structures on the exposures made since January 11, 2007. This issue has become more apparent through the month, and as we perform hi resolution measurements of our structures in SEM review written in early January. I have observed several incidents of out of focus or poorly focused structures written at the extreme edges of wafers ( E.g., targets and SPLines @ 0, -45 UV :: 0 +45 UV) Within the normal +- 10 mm range I often write within, I also observed significant changes in working distance as I moved through this small range of positions. Monday and today we made measurements of the surface of both a 100 mm wafer clipped to the standard sample holder and upon the Std. sample holder itself and have collected data that the holder is not landing precisely flat into the kinetic mounts. The range of non-flatness is ~ 0.500 mm! Visual and SEM inspection of the ceramic balls and points or 'jewel' tips in the Piezo post yield information that indicated that Piezo one post ceramic ball may have become damaged and/or the point may be missing. All piezo post exhibit wear on their surfaces. Users are requested to be vigilant of their actual working distances, and to report their WD data for specific positions across their samples and promptly report to this list if you see significant changes in WD as you move across your wafers greater than 250 um. RAITH has been contacted last Friday and we will strive to correct this issue ASAP. System is now in YELLOW Light Mode. Thank you for your support! James Conway