Abstract：The micrometer step height reference materials can used to calibrate the z-axis performance of the instrument and transmit accurate micrometer height values. Compared to foreign countries, there is a lack of integrated research on the fabrication of micrometer step height reference materials and the measurement comparison of different instruments and evaluation methods in China. The step height reference material candidates with 2-10 μm nominal size are prepared by photolithography combined with dry etching. The height, roughness, and parallelism of the steps are characterized. Using a laser confocal microscope and an aspheric measuring instrument for measurement, the step height is evaluated based on the bilateral algorithm, histogram method, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) algorithm, and the decoupling criterion for optical microscopy (LEL) method. For the same reference material candidates, the standard deviation between each evaluation method does not exceed 0.024 μm. Moreover, the relative deviation of the step height evaluation values is within 5%. This indicates that the evaluation results obtained using different algorithms and instruments have a high level of consistency and reliable measurement values. The comparison of evaluation results from different instruments indicates that the evaluation methods also have good consistency. Meanwhile, the roughness does not exceed 0.04 μm. The parallelism of the upper and lower surfaces does not exceed 0.03°, which verifies the good preparation effect of the reference material candidates.
2024, Vol. 45 
