To satisfy various demands of micro-and nanoscale-dimensional metrology, a coordinate measuring system based on a nano positioning and measuring machine (NMM) has been built. The measuring system is able to perform measurements by using sensors such as scanning force microscopes, stylus profilometers, optical fixed focus sensors and assembled cantilever probes. In recent years, two kinds of tactile micro/nano CMM probes have been developed and coupled to the system. In such a way, the function of the device has been expanded from a metrological SFM to a micro/nano CMM. In this paper, the development of the micro/nano CMM is reported. The design ideas concerning the key components of the CMM, such as positioning stage, probe and software, are introduced. The characterization of the probe is described in more detail. Measurements on a typical test artefact have been demonstrated as an example.
A three-axial tactile force sensor for the investigation of micromechanical structures has been developed using silicon micromachining technology. The sensor is capable of performing mechanical micro material characterisation such as the determination of the spring constant of complex micromechanical structures. Another application for this sensor is dimensional metrology where it has been tested as a 3D probe in a test set-up for coordinate measurements.
In this paper, four different designs for a new three-axes monolithic low-g acceleration sensor are presented. The silicon spring-mass system of the sensor is fabricated in a single step by anisotropic wet chemical etching in KOH using (111) planes as physical etch stop. The orientation of the supporting beams of the spring-mass systems allows the seismic mass to move in a direction orthogonal to the (111) planes. Four mass-spring systems, each one rotated by 90 , enables the detection of three components of the acceleration vector using capacitive readout. Two alignment structures are presented meeting the high requirements in terms of mask alignment, which are necessary when using the described etch technique. A new space saving compensation structure protecting the convex edges of the seismic masses during the etch process was realized and compared with standard solutions. The sensors performance was characterized and is demonstrated.[578]
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