Investigations on the spatial resolution of autocollimator-based slope measuring profilers

During the last decade, autocollimator-based slope measuring profilers like the Nanometer Optical Component Measuring Machine (NOM) at BESSY-II have become standard instrument for the ultra-precise characterization of synchrotron optics with nanometer accuracy. Due to the increasing demand for highest accuracy, which can be provided by these profilers, further investigations are necessary to understand the performance of these instruments. Besides the achievable accuracy, it is of particular interest to characterize the possible spatial resolution of such instrumentation. The performance of the BESSY-NOM was characterized by means of sinusoidal and chirped surface profiles. A dedicated sample was prepared using the Atmospheric Plasma Jet Machining technology at the IOM—Leibniz-Institut für Oberflächenmodifizierung e.V. We report on our tests on the NOM, the interferometer measurements done for comparison as well as the sample preparation.