Accuracy- and Simplicity-Oriented Self-Calibration Approach for Two-Dimensional Precision Stages

Departing from previous complicated attempts, this paper studies the self-calibration of 2-D precision metrology stages seriously from an accuracy- and simplicity-oriented perspective. Based on three measurement views with different permutations of an artifact plate on the metrology stage, symmetry, transitivity, and redundance are obtained and utilized to exactly extract the stage error from the measurement data. Particularly, as the determination of the misalignment-error components of the translation measurement view is rather complicated but important in previous research studies, the proposed scheme does not need this costly computation, which significantly simplifies the calculation process. The algorithm is tested by computer simulation, and the results validate that the proposed method can exactly realize the stage error even under the existence of various random measurement noises. The procedure for performing a standard 2-D self-calibration following the proposed scheme is finally introduced for engineers in practical implementations.