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Some Useful Terms:
Angstrom - A unit of length equal to 10-8 of a centimeter.
Backgrind - An operation that uses an abrasive on the backside of a wafer to achieve
necessary thinness.
Bevel - The angle or inclination of a surface that meets another at any angle but
90°.
Exclusion Zone - Area around the edge of the wafer, that can be handled by machines
and operators.
Focus - The act of focusing the laser beam on the surface of the test piece. A
test piece must be in focus to obtain accurate measurements.
Laser - A device that produces an intense, monochromatic beam of light, (Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
Micrometer - A unit of length equal to 10-6 of a meter.
Nomarski Prism - A prism used to shear the linearly polarized laser beam from the surface
measurement into two beam components.
Objective - Interchangeable lenses used to highly magnify the instrument's view of
the surface.
Profile - A graph indicating the precise, overall contour of a test piece,
measured in Angstroms or micrometers.
Repeatability - Data obtained from a series of successive surface measurements taken
over the same length across the sample to check data accuracy.
Resolution - Fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image, as on a
video display terminal.
Roughness - The measure of the topography of a surface.
Scan - The process of acquiring data through laser translation over a surface.
Stylus - A sharp, pointed instrument.
Surface Profiling - The inspection of microscopic features of surfaces.
Topography - Graphic representations of surface feature.
Wafer - A small, thin, circular slice of a semi conducting material, such as
silicon, on which an integrated circuit can be formed.
Waviness - Texture on the surface caused by cutting tool instability.
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