A novel contact/non-contact hybrid measurement system for surface topography characterization

A novel surface profile measurement instrument, developed for the character ization of engineering surfaces, is presented. The instrument is of a hybri d type and is capable of contact and non-contact measurement, making it sui table for a wider range of applications. It has an optical displacement sen sor and a stylus displacement sensor. For contact measurement, the vertical measurement range and resolution of the instrument are 1 mm and 10 nm. res pectively. For non-contact measurement, they are 500 um and 3 nm, respectiv ely. The instrument has been successfully used for several forensic applica tions, demonstrating its unique flexibility and high reliability as a novel surface topography instrument. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.