Surface 3D measurements with single nanometer accuracy in all dimensional axes are among the least metrological challenges for modern high-precision surface processing. Not only does the modern chip industry need routine measurement of surface defects with 1 - 10 nanometer accuracy, but the automotive industry also needs to measure surface roughness on paint surfaces down to this range. This also applies to the battery industry. Membranes in the separator of a Li-ion battery must be characterized with nanometre precision. All applications show a huge global market potential worth billions of euros. The typical measuring instrument suitable for this is the atomic force microscope (AFM). However, the use of such microscopes in industry is very limited. The reason is that the measurement is inevitably always disturbed by the slightest vibration from the environment, so that it is not able to perform measurements under harsh environmental conditions. This disadvantage affects the use of this measurement technology in many industrial applications where a gigantic market potential is developing. Parcan GmbH has invented an innovative measuring principle and thus broken with the previous state of the art by developing a vibration-insensitive AFM with a new measuring principle. Together with the TU Ilmenau, a TAB project is being put together in the state of Thuringia. Instead of an AFM with one measuring probe, which is currently used worldwide without exception, Parcan's technology uses two measuring sensors and efficiently filters out the vibration noise.The AFM to be developed therefore has huge market potential for the use of existing AFMs and, in particular, enables the expansion of new industrial applications.
