Drift reduction in a scanning electrostatic force microscope for surface profile measurement

The influence of drifts on the measurement results of an electrostatic force microscope (EFM) based on a dual-height method for surface profile measurement is analyzed. Two types of drifts and their influence on the EFM measurement are discussed by computer simulation. It is figured out that the mechanical drift has a larger impact compared to the resonance frequency drift for the specific EFM with the conventional round-trip scan mode. It is also verified that the profile reconstruction algorithm of the dual-height method for separating the electric property distribution and the surface profile of the surface has an effect of magnifying the drift error in the result of surface profile measurement, which is a much more significant measurement of uncertainty sources for the developed EFM compared with an ordinary scanning probe microscope (SPM). A new vertical reciprocating scan (VRS) mode is then employed to reduce the influences of the drifts. The feasibility of the VRS mode is demonstrated by computer simulation and measurement experiments with a diffraction grating. (paper)