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An intercomparison of nanometric lateral scales, which are special one-dimensional (1D) grating standards with sub-hundred-nanometre pitches, among a deep-ultraviolet (DUV) laser diffractometer, a critical dimension scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM) and different types of atomic force microscope (AFM) was performed. The reference value and its expanded uncertainty were provided by the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) using an atomic force microscope with differential laser interferometers (DLI-AFM). The consistency of the measurement results obtained using the DUV laser diffractometer, CD-SEM and some AFMs was satisfactory; however, that in the measurement results obtained using other AFMs was unsatisfactory. An improvement in AFM calibration technology using nanometrological standards is required for both AFM manufacturers and AFM users, including metrology institutes.

We constructed a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) on a commercially available atomic force microscopy (AFM) apparatus (SPM-9500J2; Shimadzu Corp.) to measure the stress distribution in ceramic composite materials. Features of our SNOM system are: (1) a compact SNOM head substituted for the original AFM head; (2) a wide scanning range (125 × 125 μm2) inherited from the original scanner; (3) use of conventional shear-force regulation; (4) an optical system for the illumination-collection (I-C) mode; (5) excitation by a 488 nm line of an Ar-ion laser, and (6) light detection by photon counting or a polychromator equipped with an electronically cooled charge coupled device (CCD). This SNOM system was used to measure the surface structure and stress distribution of an Al2O3/ZrO2 eutectic composite. We simultaneously measured topographic images and fluorescence spectra of an Al2O3/ZrO2 eutectic composite. We estimated its peak intensity, peak position, and peak width from the fluorescence spectrum during scanning, which respectively correspond to the abundance of Al2O3, stress in the grain, and the anisotropy of that stress. Mapping images showed that the stress and its anisotropy were weaker in the center of the Al2O3 grain than its boundary between Al2O3 and ZrO2. That observation suggests that Al2O3 underwent intense anisotropic stress induced by volume expansion in the phase transition of ZrO2 from the cubic phase to the monoclinic phase during preparation.

We observed local electrical properties of polycrystalline silicon films by conductive atomic force microscopy. Moreover, we investigated the effects of hydrogen termination on the polycrystalline silicon films. Before hydrogen termination, conductive regions in grain disappeared with the repeated scanning of the cantilever, while conductive regions in grain boundary almost unchanged. It is considered that hopping conduction is a major electrical conduction mechanism at grain boundaries. After 5 min hydrogen termination, locally nonterminated regions were observed near grain boundaries. This suggests that hydrogen termination of the polycrystalline silicon does not randomly progress, and there are regions that cannot be easily inactivated near grain boundaries.

Optical methods have been proposed for the profile measurement of aspheric lens, but further investigation is needed to improve the accuracy of the machining. A method for the measurement of small-diameter lenses was developed using a scanning electron microscope. Photo-semiconducdors were used to detect backscattered electrons which were reflected on the surface of the lens. A new simple algorithm which makes it possible to derive direction angle and slant angle of the normal at the respective observed points was proposed. The slope of a plastic aspheric lens was measured in terms of the normal. Contour circles of equi-slope were illustrated. The difference in the radii of the circles for that the slope was varied with constant step was deformed due to the aspherity. A profile of the aspherity along the radial direction could be obtained by integrating the slope. The error from the designed profile could be evaluated based on the result.