The NX-3DM enables fully automated operation from wafer handling to measurement and analysis. It automatically receives a recipe from a host, performs end-to-end automation by selecting the appropriate tip, scanning multiple target areas, analyzing data, and generating reports.

The many unique features of the NX-3DM are made possible by independently tilting the Z-scanner on its patented crosstalk-eliminated platform, where XY and Z scanners are completely decoupled. This design allows users to access vertical sidewalls as well as undercut structures at various angles. Unlike systems with flared tips, this system enables the use of high resolution and high aspect ratio probes.

XEA offers practical features such as easy copy/paste of recipes, specialized editing modes, and real-time recipe updates. With built-in functions providing comprehensive system operation—including parameter adjustment, database management, and maintenance—the interface remains straightforward and user-friendly. The navigator provides an intuitive user interface that integrates system adjustment and operation.

The NX-3DM ensures optimal compatibility with cleanroom environments in semiconductor fabs. The system achieves ISO Cleanliness Class 1 (≤10 particles/m³ ≥ 0.1 µm and ≤2 particles/m³ ≥ 0.2 µm) and minimizes particle contamination along the wafer movement path through its engineered fan filter unit and ventilation system, while maintaining efficient noise shielding. Additional chemical filters are available as options to effectively block airborne molecular contamination (AMC), which can adversely affect sensitive samples. Furthermore, the system is equipped with advanced monitoring capabilities that can detect and alert users to potential fire hazards or voltage sags.

The separated flexure-guided 2D XY scanner and 1D Z scanner system minimizes out-of-plane motion by eliminating crosstalk between horizontal and vertical motion. The independent Z scanner enables precise, linear, and fast dynamic performance.

The NX-3DM provides unique access to undercut and overhang structures in photoresist and other industrial materials, ensuring users receive accurate topographical data across the entire sample. Images taken at three different tilting angles can be automatically stitched together to form a complete 3D image.

The NX-3DM’s innovative head-tilting design provides access to sidewalls with an ultra-sharp tip, enabling high-resolution, well-defined measurement of sidewall roughness. This allows precise characterization of sidewall topography, including fine surface variations and irregularities critical to process control and device performance in semiconductor manufacturing.

The NX-3DM’s True Non-contact™ mode enables precise measurement of sidewall angle in photoresist patterns without causing sample deformation, and accurately resolving undercut profiles critical to lithography process control. As demonstrated in the line profile, NX-3DM captures the full sidewall geometry at an isotropic scale, revealing a sidewall angle of 110.3°