Ingo Schmitz

US Patent:

20070075243, Apr 5, 2007

Filed:

Sep 30, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/241093

Inventors:

David Kneeburg - Santa Barbara CA, US
Rohit Jain - Ventura CA, US
Jason Osborne - Lompoc CA, US
Wei Yao - Ventura CA, US
Matthew Klonowski - Santa Barbara CA, US
Ingo Schmitz - Santa Barbara CA, US

International Classification:

G12B 21/20
G01N 13/10

US Classification:

250306000, 250307000, 073105000

Abstract:

The preferred embodiments are directed to a method and apparatus of operating a scanning probe microscope (SPM) to perform sample measurements using a survey scan that is less than five lines, and more preferably two lines, to accurately locate a field of features of a sample. This is accomplished by selecting a step distance between adjacent lines of the survey scan that does not equal the pitch of the features in a direction orthogonal to the direction the survey scan traverses, i.e., does not equal the pitch of the features in the scan direction, X. The aspect ratio of the scans can also be modified to further improve sample throughput.