FAQs | Thickness measurement system

What materials are suitable for measurement and what materials cannot be measured?

You can basically measure any material as long as light can pass through it. It is difficult to measure a sample that light cannot pass through, such as a metal film 100 nm or thicker. (Samples less than 50 nm thick have been measured successfully before) Samples that scatter light easily are also difficult to measure. Contact a Hamamatsu Photonics representative for more information on haze rates and other specs.

What applications are they used for?

It can be used with in-line/off-line applications, mainly inspecting semi-conductor, FPD, and film manufacturing processes (film thickness control).

I want to check if my sample can be measured. Can you conduct a demonstration measurement?

We can conduct demonstration measurements on a sample you prepare. We have a Optical Gauge series demo kit ready. Contact a Hamamatsu Photonics representative for more information.

How do you confirm the Optical Gauge Thickness measurement results?

We measure a sample whose thickness has been guaranteed by a third party institution and judge the measurement results against that reference to confirm thickness. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee measurements of film thickness of samples that we ourselves cannot control and check.

How accurate can measurements be made?

Absolute precision depends on the optical constant (refraction index and absorption coefficient) of a material. If this optical constant is correct, then the absolute thickness precision will be high. The guaranteed range shown in measurement guarantees by VLSI Standards (a third part institution) is our measurement precision. Reproducibility is 0.02 nm of standard deviation on a 400 nm quartz glass sample.

How much distance fluctuations can be accommodated?

It can handle fluctuations of several mm. See defocus dependencies on this page for more information.

What sort of questions do you often get after shipping the product?

We do not get many questions regarding hardware repair, but we get a lot of questions regarding the analysis area (including software), especially about setting recipes. Optical Gauge series has a recipe setting function that is simple for even the customer to use.

Can it measure automatically?

Optical Gauge series can automatically measure using their external communication function. TheC15151-01 and C13027 enable measurement controls using electrical input/output signals, making it easy to connect a sequencer.

Can it measure when the sample and sensor are positioned far apart?

For normal measurements, the distance between sample and sensor is 10 mm or less, but optics for a working distance of 35 mm are also available.

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