SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE FOR IMAGING A DIAMOND TOOL EDGE

A technique is described to measure the edge radius of diamond cutting tools using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). This method attem pts to overcome two major limitations of the SEM in this application: low image contrast and lack of quantitative topographic information. A line of electron beam contamination, viewed at an angle, provides imp roved contrast for focusing and a means of obtaining the tool profile from the geometry.