3D-confocal microscopy for surface analysis of micro-structured materials

The surface of technical materials is playing an ever more important part in modem production processes. However, standard roughness values, which are obtained from a profile, frequently no longer provide sufficient descriptions. What are desired are three-dimensional measurements of surfaces over a macroscopic range with a high degree of vertical and lateral resolution. This has become necessary to be able to describe both deterministic and non-deterministic structures in the same fashion. Due to increased requirements for data and the measuring speed demanded by industry, only optical systems are a possibility. Using the example of tribology, the capability of this technology is shown in this article on the basis of the commercial confocal 3D white light microscope, the NanoFocus(TM) muSurf(TM). On the one hand, the technology and data preparation used are discussed, and on the other, a comparison is drawn with other standard optical measuring methods.