Micromeasurements on smooth surfaces with a new confocal optical profiler
Founding member of Sensofar in 2001 and Sensofar Medical in 2012.
Academic career at Barcelona Tech (UPC), Professor of Optical Engineering at the BCN Master in Photonics and founding member and former director of CD6, a Center for Technological Innovation belonging to UPC and recognized by the Government of Catalonia as a member of the TECNIO network.
He is the author of more than 150 scientific contributions, supervisor of 10 master's and doctoral theses, inventor of 3 international family patents and responsible for more than 50 research projects funded by national and European public agencies and also by private companies.
He also led the process of creating the "Southern European Cluster in Photonics and Optics" (SECPhO) and managed for 14 years a Venture Capital company focused on high-tech investments.
Micromeasurements on smooth surfaces with a new confocal optical profiler full article
Ferran Laguarta1, Roger Artigas1, Agustí Pintó1 and I. Al-Khatib1
1Center for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD6), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Rambla Sant Nebridi, 10, E-08222 Terrassa, Spain.
Proceedings Volume 3520, Three-Dimensional Imaging, Optical Metrology, and Inspection IV; (1998)
Event: Photonics East (ISAM, VVDC, IEMB), 1998, Boston, MA, United States
Abstract
The surface metrology market toady is moving towards non- contact modular computer-controlled system for measuring and analyzing roughness, contour and topography. In this paper we present a new optical instrument based on the concept of confocal microscopy. In this instrument, which is especially suitable for measurements on smooth surfaces, either a pinhole or a structured light pattern in imaged by a very high numerical aperture optical system on the surface of the sample to be measured. The reflected light is observed with a CCD array and analyzed with different image data processing algorithms. Two different experimental prototypes were developed to allow the measurement not only of surfaces with good accessibility but also of those with intricate geometries, difficult access and small dimensions. Various samples such as high precision optical surfaces, master gratings, and diamond drawing dies were measured. All the results obtained show that the confocal optical profiler is robust enough to provide a surface topography with spatial resolution lower than 1 micrometers and uncertainty about 10 nm. In addition to the replacement of the existing stylus system, there are also important new potential applications for this kind of instrument.
