20.10.2020 - 08:00:00

New confocal microscope

The Laser Confocal Microscope LSM900 from Zeiss combines conventional light microscopy with high-precision topography measurements in one instrument and is used for non-contact, fast and high-resolution surface analysis of semiconductors, metals and (semi-)transparent oxides and polymers with a wide range of topographies and dimensions from the mm to the nm range. In addition to optical brightfield microscopy in reflected light, a circular differential interference contrast is also available for the best possible image quality.

For topography measurements the confocal mode or alternatively the total interference contrast (TIC) is used. With the confocal measurement principle, a laser scans over the sample surface and using a confocal pinhole, only the information from the focal plane of the respective measurement point is detected. In this way, an image stack is generated over the entire scanned area, which describes the vertical topography of the sample down to a few nm. The TIC method is used for very thin layers and is based on the phase shift of white light on structures of different heights. In this way, vertical resolution down to the sub-nm range is possible.

All measuring methods can be performed at the same position, so that a holistic analysis of the same sample position is possible. By means of software evaluation roughness, waviness, thickness, step heights, areas, angles, contours etc. can be analyzed contact-free and time-saving.