Abstract
The recent tendency of the precision measurement in Japan is described. The range of measuring object and measuring quantity are made wider and wider and the measuring accuracy is improving from sub-micrometer to nanometer. The measuring methods by means of the contacts as AFM stylus and probe systems and the non contacts as optical interferometer and auto focus profiler are used. The design for Precision in the measuring systems is discussed on such conditions as the Abbe principle in alignment, the kinematics constraints, thermal loop, the structural loop, the metrology frame and the environmental condition, the drive offset, the force and mass compensation, the repeating performance, and the software for error compensation and self-calibration.
