Nanometric surface metrology at the National Physical Laboratory

A theoretical framework for mapping the performance of dimensional measuring instruments has been developed that is used to interpret the results of measurements at the nanometric level, where it is particularly important to understand the geometrical and physical interactions between the measuring instrument and the object being measured. Nanometric topographic measuring instruments that have been developed at the NPL span measuring ranges of 0.01 nm to 3 mm in surface amplitude and 0.3 nm to 100 mm in surface wavelength.