Cost effective solution for characterization of textured surfaces
Roughness and Tribology - In many manufacturing processes, surfaces and their properties are as important as the bulk properties of the material.
The surface topography has an effect on a wide range of material applications, such as friction, wear, bonding of paints and coatings, visual appearance, corrosion resistance, fatigue behaviour, sealing capacity, electrical and thermal contact resistance, etc.
To enhance the effect of these properties it is often desirable to induce a pattern into the surface. For example, for car body panels a pattern is made into the sheet steel. This textured steel will then have surface properties designed to improve formability and paintability.
Designers, however, often find it difficult to describe these engineered surfaces using traditional roughness parameters and 2-dimensional profiling techniques. When surfaces become more complex in nature it is a great benefit to measure and assess the surfaces 3-dimensionally. Taylor Hobson provides state-of-the-art metrology tools such as the Talysurf CCI Lite to characterize these complex structures.
The Talysurf CCI Lite is Taylor Hobson’s latest non-contact, 3-dimensional metrology tool. This instrument offers an extremely cost effective solution for repeatable 3D measurements with high data density. The 3D graphical measurement results offer an excellent representation of a surface and all numerical results can be reported using the new ISO 25178 S parameters, which are now recommended to assess 3-dimensional surface finish.
Talysurf CCI Lite and Textured Steel
The Talysurf CCI Lite is quickly becoming the instrument of choice for quality control of textured steel. This instrument can be used to characterize electrical steels, enamelling steels, hot and cold rolled steels, metallic coatings, tube and plate steels and other metallurgy applications.
Typical advantages of the Talysurf CCI Lite over alternative solutions are high measurement throughput, robust platform and operator friendly operation. This cost effective solution is totally non-contact, 3-dimensional and provides high data density with quantitative numerical results.
Results can be presented in many formats, including: surface texture parameters, 3-dimensional images, extracted profiles, heights and depths of structures, hole volumes, grain sizes, localized flatness, cell diameters and many more. High accuracy quantitative metrology is crucial for controlling textured steel surface characteristics and performance.
Coherence Correlation Interferometry
3D measurements by the Talysurf CCI instrument are produced using coherence correlation interferometry (CCI) patented by Taylor Hobson. This measurement technique not only provides extremely high Z resolution but also high sensitivity to a variety of surfaces. The Talysurf CCI is therefore suitable for the measurement of both highly reflective and low reflectivity surfaces. Textured surfaces of steel, other metals, ceramics, coatings, polymers and inks can all be measured.
With a measurement array of more than 1 million data points in XY it provides highly detailed graphical visualization and reliable calculation of area, volume, height and lateral distances as well as surface roughness.
Talysurf CCI Lite Key System Features
• Measures a very large number of surface types, independent of material reflectivity or roughness
• Ultra High resolution allows operators to visualize small features within large structures (0.1nm Z resolution over full 2.2mm Z scan range)
• Large measured areal bandwidth with 1 million data points (X - Y area from 360µm to 7.2mm – larger with stitching)
• Intuitive and easy-to-use 3-dimensional analysis software
• Fast (10 - 20 seconds) component set-up and measurement time
Surface Characterization
Surface characteristics can be complex with roughness, waviness and form often existing in combination. Along with the manufactured surface there is an inherent structure to the material. Very few surfaces are molecularly smooth. In metals, grain areas will produce surface irregularities that are extremely fine compared with the texture generated by the manufacturing process. There are many roughness parameters available to describe these complex surface features and characteristics. Care must be taken when selecting a parameter; e.g., amplitude parameters such as Ra can be applied to both a sinusoidal and stepped shaped surface, but still offer a similar Ra value. Ra would therefore be useless in describing the difference between two such surface types (see figure 1). However, parameters that are correctly applied can prove useful in describing the differences between many surface types. Parameters can be used to relate surface appearance (optical), surface resistance and conductivity (shielding), surface energy (cleanliness, hygiene), heat transfer (flux control), barrier (corrosion performance, permeation control), surface topography (friction, forming behaviour, touch), adhesion, compatibility with additional coating layers (paints, glues) and other characteristics.
Just as surface parameters can be used to describe an existing surface, they can also be used to specify a new surface, i.e., define the particular texture characteristics required for the desired performance.
Talysurf CCI 9150
The Talysurf CCI9150 system advanced production metrology tool has an ultra low noise 1M pixel sensor as standard. It greatly improves signal-to-noise ratio which delivers best in class repeatability and unparalleled surface detail.
It has been designed specifically to meet the most demanding automated production requirements. It is ideally suited to applications in Data Storage, Semiconductor Fabrication and MEMS.
- 0.1 Å (0.01 nm) Vertical resolution algorithm
- 0.2 Å (0.02 nm) Measurement noise (real measurement data)
- > 1,000,000 Data points as standard
- AlTiC and DLC material compensation available
- 0.03 Å (0.003 nm) RMS repeatability
Sub-Angstrom resolution
The Talysurf CCI 9150 is invaluable for applications requiring the ultimate in high precision 3D profile analysis. An unparalleled level of performance for non-contact 3D measurement with 0.1 Å Z resolution over the full Z scan range combined with <0.2 Å measurement noise.
| Download Overview | More Information |
Talysurf CCI 6000
The Talysurf CCI 6000 interferometer is an advanced high resolution metrology tool with a 1M pixel sensor as standard. It delivers best in class repeatability and unparalleled surface detail.
It has been designed for ultra high resolution measurement of many different types of surface requiring sub-micrometrre and sub-nanometre z resolution. It is ideally suited to applications in many different areas including: semiconductor fabrication and MEMS as well as advanced research and optics
- 0.1 Å (0.01 nm) Vertical resolution algorithm
- 0.5 Å (0.05 nm) Measurement noise (real measurement data)
- > 1,000,000 Data points as standard, > 4,000,000 data point system also available
Sub-Angstrom resolution
The Talysurf CCI 6000 is suited for applications requiring the ultimate in high precision 3D profile analysis. An high level of performance for non-contact 3D measurement with 0.1 Å Z resolution over the full Z scan range combined with <0.5 Å measurement noise.
| Download Overview | More Information |
Talysurf CCI Lite
The Talysurf CCI Lite is an advanced type of measurement interferometer. It uses an innovative, patented correlation algorithm to find the coherence peak and phase position of an interference pattern produced by our precision optical scanning unit.
Surfaces are quantified absolutely using the latest internationally recognized parameters for both 3D and 2D surface characterization. All material types are measurable including: glass, liquid inks, photo resist, metal, polymer and pastes
