Accurate simultaneous measurements on the topography and electrostatic force field of 500 nm pitch interdigitated electrodes embedded in a thin SiO2 layer in a plane perpendicular to the orientation of the electrodes are shown for the first time. A static force distance curve (FDC) based method has been developed, which allows a lateral and vertical resolution of 25 and 2 nm, respectively. The measured force field distribution remains stable as result of the well controlled fabrication procedure of Pt cantilever tips that allows thousands of FDC measurements. A numerical model is established as well which demonstrates good agreement with the experimental results. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.