Profilometery Lab

Tencor Alpha Step
The Alpha Step is a stylus profilometer. A small radius stylus runs along a straight line on the sample and deviations of the stylus are measured to give surface roughness similar to an AFM but with a much coarser tip size and greater tip pressure. The primary use of the profilometer is to measure the thickness of deposited layers or masks. Unlike an AFM the profilometer has a larger range in both vertical and horizontal scales. The profilometery area also has an Optical Profilometer for more precise measurements over a small area.