Pushing boundaries of nano-dimensional metrology by light
Unlocking innovation opportunities in identified Key Enabling Technologies
To boost attention toward the innovation potential of Nanotechnologies, Micro-Nanoelectronics, Photonics and Advanced materials, the European Commission branded these sectors as Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). The objective is to refocus capacity from medium-technology sectors towards opportunities in some of Europe’s most advanced industries and institutes. By 2015, Europe’s industries contributed just under a quarter of KETs-based exports, a share unchanged over the preceding decade. By contrast, investment in East-Asia generated rapid growth, gaining almost two-thirds of the world’s export markets and almost half the total number of KET patents.
Developing these four KETs requires manipulation of matter at the nanoscale, where optical measurement is critical, such as defect detection of semiconductors, photonics and nano-electronics.
However, the current approach of using shorter wavelength light to measure each generation of increasingly small devices is reaching a practical limit of corresponding reduced penetration depth. For example, solid-state device memory contains multiple layers a few microns thick, inaccessible by extreme UV-light, that barely penetrates 0.2-micron depth.
This project has built on the BeCOMe project that developed optical measurement techniques for nanoscale structures. Further methods have been developed to measure lateral features sized below 10 nm using far-field detection; diffraction-based methods; and by multiple scattering or linear structured-illumination microscopy. Other potential imaging methods were developed, including quantum methods, to deliver spatial resolutions at 10 nm and penetration depth in the micro-metre range.
New optical metrology systems will unlock innovation opportunities for European industries and institutes, potentially offering competitive advantages in high-growth-potential global markets.
Journal of Computational Physics
Measurement Science and Technology
Nature Communications
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Applied Physics Letters
Communications Materials
Optical Materials
Proc. SPIE
Materials
Applied Surface Science
Modeling Aspects in Optical Metrology IX
19th IMEKO TC10 Conference
Photonic Instrumentation Engineering X
Photonic Instrumentation Engineering X
Surfaces and Interfaces
Phys. Status Solidi A
Light: Science & Applications
Advanced Quantum Technologies
Metrologia
Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing
Communications Physics
Advanced Theory and Simulations
Electronic Structure
Physical Review Research
Photonics
Frontiers in Physics
tm - Technisches Messen
Nano Letters
Journal of the Optical Society of America A
Applied Surface Science
EPJ Web of Conferences
Nature Communications
Participating EURAMET NMIs and DIs
CMI (Czechia)
DFM (Denmark)
INRiM (Italy)
PTB (Germany)
SMD (Belgium)
VSL (Netherlands)
Other Participants
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Denmark)
Energiatudományi Kutatóközpont (Hungary)
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Germany)
Fundacio Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques (Spain)
JCMwave GmbH (Germany)
Swansea University (United Kingdom)
Technische Universitaet Braunschweig (Germany)
Technische Universiteit Delft (Netherlands)
Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy)
Information