  A method is described intended for distributed calibration of a probe
microscope scanner consisting in a search for a net of local calibration
coefficients (LCCs) in the process of automatic measurement of a standard
surface, whereby each point of the movement space of the scanner can be defined
by a unique set of scale factors. Feature-oriented scanning (FOS) methodology
is used to implement the distributed calibration, which permits to exclude in
situ the negative influence of thermal drift, creep and hysteresis on the
obtained results. The sensitivity of LCCs to errors in determination of
position coordinates of surface features forming the local calibration
structure (LCS) is eliminated by performing multiple repeated measurements
followed by building regression surfaces. There are no principle restrictions
on the number of repeated LCS measurements. Possessing the calibration database
enables correcting in one procedure all the spatial distortions caused by
nonlinearity, nonorthogonality and spurious crosstalk couplings of the
microscope scanner piezomanipulators. To provide high precision of spatial
measurements in nanometer range, the calibration is carried out using natural
standards - constants of crystal lattice. The method allows for automatic
characterization of crystal surfaces. The method may be used with any scanning
probe instrument.
