Technique offers full-colour surface examination
An
ACK Solutions product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Apr 5, 2007
The Infinite Focus Microscope (IFM) from Alicona of Austria uses focus variation to build true colour 3D images of surfaces and microscopic structures.
Confocal Microscopy and Interfermometric Systems are extremely powerful surface characterisation systems which can resolve nanometric features.
However there has up to now been an unfulfilled gap in the portfolio of noncontact, optical surface characterisation instrumentation available.
Say you want to build and measure a 3D image of a surface in true colour.
Confocal and interferometers produce images in either monochromatic or pseudo colour.
This is not ideal when the user would like to spot corrosion or discolouration due to laser machining.
Surfaces and microscopic structures with high aspect ratios (deep narrow troughs) and steep flanks (near vertical sides) can be difficult to image with confocal or interferometer systems.
Now a new noncontact optical surface characterisation technique called focus variation addresses all these issues and others.
The Infinite Focus Microscope (IFM) from Alicona of Austria uses this new technique to build true colour 3D images of surfaces and microscopic structures.
Very deep troughs can be imaged as can the flanks or sides of those structures almost up to 90 degrees.
Surfaces with different materials and varying reflectivity are also no problem..
Focus variation and the IFM are ideal for applications that require characterisation of surfaces with significant variations in height across the area being studied.
The system is suitable for fracture analysis or imaging MEMs, microsystems and the results of laser machining.
Users can measure profile, areas and volume of surface features such as pitting and voids.
They can also measure roughness.
ACK Solutions represents Alicona in the Irish Market place through Optimax in the UK.
It has developed a guide to the IFM and the focus variation technique.
The guide discusses how the technique works; how the technique fits into the portfolio of optical surface characterisation techniques; advantages and limitations of current surface characterisation techniques; advantages and limitations of the focus variation technique; and characterising the surface - measuring profile, area, volume and roughness.
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