Thermally induced positioning errors in a high precision application: research paper

greenTEG AG: Thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) is a promising method in high precision manufacturing. To improve this method, researchers at ETH Zurich conducted research for a better understanding of thermally induced errors in t-SPL. A gSKIN® Heat Flux Sensor was used in research for modelling and compensation of thermally induced errors. The results of the research was published in the Proceedings of the 7th IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems, Loughborough University, UK, September 5-8, 2016.

Abstract

Thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) is a promising technology to create patterns at the nanometer scale. So far, a commercially available t-SPL tool only exists for small, centimeter scale work pieces typically used in the university research environment. Scaling this technology to work with industry standard wafers requires much larger mechanical positioning units. These are subject to thermally induced deformations and consequently positioning errors. This work suggests a model based compensation of a mechanical positioning unit in combination with a direct position measurement enabled by the t-SPL patterning tool. Based on a linear model of the positioning unit, a Kalman based filter is designed, to estimate thermal errors during the patterning process and use position measurements between patterning phases for re-calibration. The presented filter does not require additional measurement equipment for the compensation. An application of the presented algorithm on an experimental set-up shows a significant reduction of thermally induced position errors.

The full paper can be accessed by following this link:

• Modelling and Compensation of Thermally Induced Positioning Errors in a High Precision Positioning Application

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