Effects of centering error of probe tip in spiral scanning AFM for large-area measurement on measuring results

A spiral scanning atomic force microscope (AFM) system for large-area measurement was presented, which is composed of an air slide moving along the X-direction, an air spindle rotating around the Z-direction and a probe unit that it is designed for detecting micro-structured surface profile. The spiral scanning is carried out by synchronizing the linear motions of the air slide in X-axis and the rotation of the air spindle around Z-axis. When the centering errors between the probe tip and the rotation center of the spindle occur, the measuring accuracy of the system will decrease and it can not truly image the micro-structured profile of the sample. The effects of centering error on measuring result were researched via simulation and experiment, and the reasons of the image distortion were also analyzed. Finally, based on this system, the experiment of high-speed and large-area measurement of the micro-structured profile on grating surface was performed. The results show that it just spends 4 minutes to measure the micro-structured surface where its diameter is 2.4 mm.