The overall goal of this project is to meet current and future requirements for traceable 3 dimensional (3D) metrology at the nanometre level with measurement uncertainties below 1 nm. To achieve this goal the project will set up to establish new routes for traceability, further inelop existing instruments and validate 3D measurement procedures. Additionally, this project will develop new calibration artefacts and made them available to industry as traceable reference standards to enable valid comparison of fabrication and measurement results, and establish a robust basis for design of objects with traceable nanoscale dimensions and tolerances.

Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPMs) available in national metrology institutes (NMIs) have low uncertainties, are traceable to the SI-metre and significantly outperform commercial SPMs in accuracy. However, there is a large gap between SPMs and the rest of 3D metrology. This project aims is to further develop SPM instrumentation, measurement procedures, data interpretation and reference materials to bridge this gap, as proper understanding of probe-sample interactions is crucial for the reduction of measurement uncertainty.