ISO 11039:2012 defines terms and specifies measurement methods for characterizing the drift rates of scanning-probe microscopy (SPM) instruments in the X- and Y-directions and, for SPM instruments measuring topography, the drift rate in the Z-direction. Though the behaviour of the long-term drift rate might be nonlinear, both that and the behaviour of the short-term drift rate after a user-defined settling time can be characterized by either typical average or typical maximum drift rates.

This International Standard is suitable for evaluating the drift rate based on SPM images. It is intended to help manufacturers quote drift figures in specifications in a meaningful and consistent manner and to aid users to characterize the drift behaviour so that effective experiments can be designed. These measurements are not designed for image correction.