The Precision Instrument Research Center (PIRC), affiliated with the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, School of Optical and Electronic Information, and School of Integrated Circuits at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, aims to meet the growing need for in-line measurement and inspection in advanced manufacturing processes such as integrated circuit manufacturing, nanomanufacturing, and atomic-scale manufacturing. The center is dedicated to fundamental theoretical and key technological research in metrology, computational imaging, and computational lithography. It also engages in the development and application of precision instruments, with a particular focus on the development of noncontact, nondestructive, inexpensive, and time-efficient techniques that enable nanomanufacturing processes to be controllable, predictable, repeatable, and scalable.

Currently, PIRC focuses on, though not limited to, optical methods such as spectroscopic ellipsometry, optical scatterometry, coherent diffraction measurement, extremely short‑wavelength (EUV, X‑ray) measurement, and ultrafast opto‑acoustic measurement. These technologies enable high‑precision and high‑efficiency measurement of key parameters including critical dimension (CD), overlay, line‑edge roughness (LER), line‑width roughness (LWR), and full 3D profile of nanostructures and even atomic‑scale structures, as well as rapid and highly sensitive detection of defects such as particles, scratches, bridging, broken lines, and voids.

PIRC is also actively engaged in research on optical lithography, including DUV lithography, EUV lithography, and electron‑beam lithography. Topics of interest include partially coherent imaging theory, 3D mask modeling, optical proximity correction (OPC), source‑mask optimization (SMO), inverse lithography technology (ILT), curvilinear mask technology, photoresist processes, overlay metrology, focus‑leveling measurement, wavefront aberration detection, and polarization aberration detection.