US Patent 7472576 - Nanoisland calibration standard for scanning probes

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7472576.html

For purposes of nanoscale meterology atomic lattice spacing of crystalline silicon planes provide a good sub-nanometer calibration standard while microfabrabrication can produce standards on the order of 10s of nanometers. However, in the range of 1-20 nm there are fewer options to calibrate tools such as scanning probe microscopes. This patent teaches forming various "nano-islands" using epitaxial growth to serve as standards for this range. Claim 1 reads:

1. A calibration standard, comprising:

a substrate;

at least one nano-island situated at a surface of the substrate; and

an indicia associated with a crystallographic orientation of the at least one nano-island, wherein the indicia is fixed with respect to the nano-island.