Why are atomic force microscope (AFM) standards needed?
Atomic force microscopes (AFM’s) are being increasingly used as metrology tools in a variety of industrial applications, thus driving an increasing demand for accuracy in these instruments. Some properties commonly measured in the industrial setting are feature spacing (pitch), feature height (or depth), feature width (critical dimension), and surface roughness. To achieve high accuracy in AFM measurements, the scales of an instrument should be calibrated. The use of a calibration standard is normally the most straightforward and appropriate means of doing this.