Thickness measurement.

The company has introduced a TIC (total interference contrast) measuring technique for precise, low cost step height and layer thickness measurement in materials microscopy. Contrary to traditional polarization interferometers, work is carried out in circularly polarized light. The interference fringe can be aligned using the TIC slider without time-consuming sample orientation normally associated with polarization interferometers, according to the company. The differences in the height of specimen structures are then determined by measuring the phase shift in the interference pattern. This technique effectively allows the measurements of step heights on the order of 20 nm to 5 microns with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability, according to the company. In addition to the step height measurements, the materials dependent phase jump can be determined using easy-to-operate software for optical applications, according to the company. This also is said to allow for the determination of statistical parameters such as roughness. The TIC prism will function regardless of its main orientation, and can be rotated without changing the contrast of the interference fringe, producing repeatable measurements. (Carl Zeiss)

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