This article presents an atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique for true three-dimensional (3D) characterization. The cantilever probe with flared tip was used in a home-made 3D-AFM system. The cantilever was driven by two shaking piezoceramics and oscillated around its vertical or torsional resonance frequency. The vertical resonance mode was used for upper surface imaging, and the torsional resonance mode was used for sidewall detecting. The 3D-AFM was applied to measure standard gratings with the height of 100 nm and 200 nm. The experiment results showed that the presented 3D-AFM technique was able to detect the small defect features on the steep sidewall and to reconstruct the 3D topography of the measured structure.

中文翻译：

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使用扭转共振模式进行侧壁成像的三维原子力显微镜

本文介绍了一种用于真正三维 (3D) 表征的原子力显微镜 (AFM) 技术。带有喇叭形尖端的悬臂探头用于自制的 3D-AFM 系统。悬臂由两个振动压电陶瓷驱动，并围绕其垂直或扭转共振频率振荡。垂直共振模式用于上表面成像，扭转共振模式用于侧壁检测。3D-AFM 用于测量高度为 100 nm 和 200 nm 的标准光栅。实验结果表明，所提出的 3D-AFM 技术能够检测陡峭侧壁上的小缺陷特征，并重建被测结构的 3D 形貌。