If we can't measure a product quickly, precisely, and inexpensively, then we can't build it. This is especially true at the nanoscale. Nanometrology encompasses the cutting edge technologies of measuring structures in terms of a billionth of a meter-significantly below the wavelength of light. In this program you will travel to talk to the world's leading experts at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), FEI Company, and the University of Michigan's Electron Microbeam Analysis Laboratory (EMAL) to learn how advanced nanometrology instruments are aiding the production of high-performance nano-enabled products. Learn detailed information on the two major types of microscopes in use today, which are based on either an energy beam made up of electrons or ions, or a scanning probe with a sharp tip. The energy beam methods may use electrons, such as in an S-E-M (scanning electron microscope), and the T-E-M (transmission electron microscope), or they may use ionized atoms, such as in the F-I-B (focused ion beam). The scanning probes include the S-T-M (scanning tunneling microscopy), and the A-F-M (atomic force microscopy).
