Metrology for Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing to Be the Focus of Special ASME Journal Issue

The ASME Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing is currently accepting manuscripts for a special issue covering topics related to metrology for micro- and nano-manufacturing. The deadline for authors to submit a paper to be considered for publication in the September 2020 special issue is March 1, 2020.
 
With applications in the semiconductor, aerospace, medical device and many other cutting-edge industries, micro- and nano-manufacturing is one of the fastest growing areas of advanced manufacturing. However, metrology for micro- and nano-manufacturing has not kept pace with the growth in demand for these manufacturing techniques, due to difficulties related to measuring small-scale structures at sufficiently high speeds and fine enough resolutions to make their measurement useful for micro- and nano-manufacturing applications.

In conventional manufacturing processes, metrology is used to inspect the parts being produced and provide process feedback, but because of the limitations of metrology for micro- and nanoscale structures and features, most metrology for micro- and nano-manufacturing currently occurs offline. This results in only a few parts per run getting measured, making it difficult to implement process control in micro- and nano-manufacturing systems, which in turn can lead to high defect and scrap rates. For these reasons, new techniques, processes and strategies are needed to bring more robust metrology into the micro- and nano-manufacturing field.

The proposed special issue of the ASME Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing is intended to provide readers with a wide range of innovative metrology methods that can be used to inspect, measure and control micro- and nano-manufacturing processes, as well as to qualify the parts that are produced.

A variety of metrology-related topics will be explored in the special issue including in-situ measurement in micro- and nano-manufacturing; in-line metrology techniques for micro- and nano-manufacturing; high-throughput functional metrology of micro- and nanosystems; data analytics for process control in micro- and nano-manufacturing; novel measurement techniques for micro- and nanostructures; and high-resolution optical measurement techniques.

Other areas to be addressed will include high-throughput sample handling and positioning; high-speed and large-area probe-based metrology techniques; simulation and modeling of metrology methods for micro- and nano-manufacturing; metrology for roll-to-roll micro- and nano-manufacturing systems; metrology for micro- and nanoscale additive manufacturing; and metrology for MEMS and NEMS.

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the journal at journaltool.asme.org. Authors who already have an account should log in as an author and select “Submit Paper” at the bottom of the page. Authors without an account should select “Submissions” and follow the step-by-step directions. Upon reaching the Paper Submittal page, authors should select “Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing,” and then choose “Metrology for Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing” from the menu. Papers received after the deadline or those not selected for inclusion in the special issue may be accepted for publication in a regular issue of the journal.

The guest editor for the special issue is Michael Cullinan, The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A., michael.cullinan@austin.utexas.edu.

For more information on the ASME Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing, visit https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/micronanomanufacturing. To review the Information for Authors for the ASME Journal Program, visit www.asme.org/publications-submissions/journals/information-for-authors.