Surf-Cal Particle Size Standards: The Best Calibration Solution for Your Laboratory
Introduction
In the high-precision world of semiconductor manufacturing, accuracy and consistency in particle detection and measurement are paramount. Applied Physics Corporation’s SURF-CAL™ Particle Size Standards represent the gold standard in calibration tools for Scanning Surface Inspection Systems (SSIS).
These precision-engineered standards enable semiconductor manufacturers to maintain consistent quality control across multiple inspection tools and facilities, ensuring that wafer inspection scanners deliver reliable, comparable results regardless of location.
What Are Surf-Cal Particle Size Standards?
Surf-Cal standards consist of polystyrene latex (PSL) microspheres suspended in deionized, filtered water. These microspheres are sized with exceptional precision using Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA) or other size exclusionary techniques, resulting in extremely tight size distributions.
Each product comes with NIST traceability, providing the reliability and consistency required for critical semiconductor manufacturing processes.
The standards serve as reference materials for calibrating and monitoring the performance of wafer inspection tools from manufacturers like KLA-Tencor, Hitachi, ADE, and Topcon.
By depositing these precisely sized particles on silicon and patterned wafers, engineers can verify that their inspection systems detect particles of specific sizes correctly.
Key Features and Specifications
Available Particle Sizes
Surf-Cal standards are available in a wide range of particle diameters, from 0.047 μm to 3.04 μm, covering the spectrum of critical particle sizes relevant to modern semiconductor manufacturing.
Each size variant offers tightly controlled size distribution, typically within 0.003 μm to 0.026 μm, depending on the particle diameter.
Some of the most popular particle sizes include:
- 0.047 μm (47 nm) – Critical for leading-edge semiconductor nodes
- 0.100 μm (100 nm) – Commonly used reference point