Research Status and Tendency of Measurement Techniques for Geometric Features of Micro/Nano Structures

The geometric features of micro/nano structures have a critical influence on micro/nanostructured component's performance. It is inevitable to explore the high-efficiency and ultraprecision measurement techniques of micro/nano structural geometric features for developing high-performance micro/nano-structured components. This paper reviews the principle and application of existing techniques,mainly involving X-ray microscopy imaging, scanning-transmission electron microscopy tomography,electron microscopy,scanning probe microscopy,and laser scanning confocal microscope,analyses the advantages and disadvantages of the various existing techniques and their application status.Both X-ray microscopy imaging and scanning-transmission electron microscopy tomography are more preferable approaches to measuring micro/nano structural surface topography and inner structures,the former is more suitable for 3D imaging for thicker micro/nano structures,the latter has a higher imaging precision. Finally,improvement direction and development tendency of the measuring techniques for micro/nano structural geometric features are presented.