This paper deals with a planar nanopositioning and -measuring machine, the so-called nanofabrication machine (NFM-100), in combination with a mounted atomic force microscope (AFM). This planar machine has a circular moving range of 100 mm. Due to the possibility of detecting structures in the nanometre range with an atomic force microscope and the large range of motion of the NFM-100, structures can be analysed with high resolution and precision over large areas by combining the two systems, which was not possible before. On the basis of a grating sample, line scans over lengths in the millimetre range are demonstrated on the one hand; on the other hand, the accuracy as well as various evaluation methods are discussed and analysed.

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The field of optical lithography is subject to intense research and has gained enormous improvement. However, the effort necessary for creating structures at the size of 20 nm and below is considerable using conventional technologies. This effort and the resulting financial requirements can only be tackled by few global companies and thus a paradigm change for the semiconductor industry is conceivable: custom design and solutions for specific applications will dominate future development (Fritze in: Panning EM, Liddle JA (eds) Novel patterning technologies. International society for optics and photonics. SPIE, Bellingham, 2021. 10.1117/12.2593229). For this reason, new aspects arise for future lithography, which is why enormous effort has been directed to the development of alternative fabrication technologies. Yet, the technologies emerging from this process, which are promising for coping with the current resolution and accuracy challenges, are only demonstrated as a proof-of-concept on a lab scale of several square micrometers. Such scale is not adequate for the requirements of modern lithography; therefore, there is the need for new and alternative cross-scale solutions to further advance the possibilities of unconventional nanotechnologies. Similar challenges arise because of the technical progress in various other fields, realizing new and unique functionalities based on nanoscale effects, e.g., in nanophotonics, quantum computing, energy harvesting, and life sciences. Experimental platforms for basic research in the field of scale-spanning nanomeasuring and nanofabrication are necessary for these tasks, which are available at the Technische Universität Ilmenau in the form of nanopositioning and nanomeasuring (NPM) machines. With this equipment, the limits of technical structurability are explored for high-performance tip-based and laser-based processes for enabling real 3D nanofabrication with the highest precision in an adequate working range of several thousand cubic millimeters.

This work deals with various investigations into the accuracy of a newly developed planar nanopositioning machine. This machine, called Nanofabrication Machine 100 (NFM-100), has a positioning range of 100 mm in diameter. To determine the precision, various movement scenarios are performed with the machine table, and the trajectory deviation from the set trajectory is determined. In particular, the focus is on high velocities of up to 20 mm/s. Even at high speeds in the range of several millimetres per second, this machine can impress with its performance and only has a deviation in the nanometre range.

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