HRP 350

The KLA HRP 350 is a profilometer. KLA manufactures the HRP 350. The HRP 350 is a metrology and inspection instrument.^[1][2]

Stylus-based profilometers carry a diamond-tipped stylus in light contact with the sample surface. The sample moves beneath the stylus while the vertical motion of the stylus is converted into an electrical signal by a displacement transducer. The recorded signal yields a height-versus-lateral-position trace of the scanned line.

Scanning in such instruments is performed by a precision translation stage that moves the sample under the stylus at a controlled rate. The stylus force is regulated to follow the surface without damaging it. The resulting profile is displayed and analyzed for parameters such as step height, roughness, and waviness.

Profilometers are used as metrology tools in semiconductor fabrication, where they measure patterned features created by deposition, etching, and planarization processes. Such measurements are used to control film thickness through step-height monitoring and to evaluate the quality of polished or etched surfaces.

A profilometer typically measures dedicated monitor wafers or selected device structures after key process steps. The results support process qualification, equipment matching, and routine statistical process control.

Profilometry is also applied outside semiconductor devices, for example on magnetic storage media, microelectromechanical systems, optical elements, and flat-panel substrates.