The ability to make traceable measurements of step height is vital for the worldwide nanotechnology community. In contrast to the former CCL-S2 so-called NANO2 comparison, this Euromet comparison focuses only on measurements made using scanning force microscopes (SFM).

The Czech Metrology Institute (CMI), CNR Istituto di Metrologia G Colonnetti (IMGC), Swiss Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (METAS) and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB – Pilot laboratory) agreed to participate in this comparison using their SFM to measure the step height on three standards with nominal values of 40 nm, 1000 nm and 2000 nm. The reference value for each standard was calculated using the weighted mean of all measurements that fulfilled the En ≤ 1 criteria.

Most of the results were in a good agreement with the reference values except for one instrument which failed to measure the largest step height. This shows first that SFM are able to measure step heights up to 2000 nm with very small uncertainty, and secondly, that each instrument has to be very carefully examined before it can be used on a daily basis to provide calibrations for industry and science.

Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/.

The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the EUROMET, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).