Picometer drift and microrad reproducibility

As technology progresses, requirements for the next generation of high-tech systems and instruments become ever stricter. At the nanoscale, new physics comes into play. Accuracy of measurements becomes limited by factors such as the wavelength of light, finite stiffness of materials, and temperature becoming a statistical phenomenon rather than a bulk property. Speakers from the national metrology institute VSL and various companies presented real-life cases to show how to account for such factors, and make them work. This Mikroniek article presents a concise overview. (Image courtesy of VSL)