The measurement of fine surfaces optical finishes and flaws is becoming more important because of a number of factors. One of these is the hunt for better quality of conformance another is the smoother surfaces required in present day applications such as found in the computer and video industries. Defects such as scratches, pits or cracks cannot only impair the cosmetic appearance of the object, they can actually cause premature failure as in fatigue or corrosion. These new measuring criteria have caused some real problems to instrument makers. In the case of defects the problem is that of spatial bandwidth; that is the problem of searching for a small scratch over a wide area. When measuring fine surfaces the problem is usually the signal to noise ratio of the instrument itself. In many instances the search for defects or the measurement of fine surfaces has been left to human judgement - a powerful if unpredictable measuring tool. This is becoming unsatisfactory because standards have sometimes been built into commercial evaluation of quality based upon the eye. This is rather unfortunate; it ties the hands of the instrument maker who for compatibility has to try to simulate the eye or use indirect measurements.

Date Published: 3 September 1985
PDF: 18 pages
Proc. SPIE 0525, Measurement and Effects of Surface Defects & Quality of Polish, (3 September 1985); doi: 10.1117/12.946352

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0525:
Measurement and Effects of Surface Defects & Quality of Polish
Lionel R. Baker; Harold E. Bennett, Editor(s)