Side-by-side comparison of roughness measuring instruments
Various measurement tools are available in the market for analyzing and evaluating surface roughness and shape.
This section introduces the principles and characteristics of typical contact-type measuring instruments, such as surface roughness testers and atomic force microscopes, and non-contact measuring instruments, such as white light interferometers and laser scanning microscopes.
| Method | Contact | Non-contact | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measuring instrument | Contact-type roughness tester |
Atomic force microscope (AFM) |
White light interferometer |
Laser microscope |
| Measurement resolution | 1nm | < 0.01 nm | < 0.1 nm | 0.1nm |
| Height measurement range | up to 1 mm up to 0.04" |
< 10 μm < 0.39 Mil |
< a few mm < a few fractions of an inch |
< 7 mm < 0.28" |
| Measurable range | a few mm a few fractions of an inch |
1 to 200 μm 0.04 to 7.87 Mil |
40 μm to 15 mm 1.57 Mil to 0.59" |
15 μm to 2.7 mm 0.59 Mil to 0.11" |
| Angular characteristic | – | Poor | Fair | Good |
| Data resolution | – | VGA | VGA | SXGA |
| Measurement site positioning | – | Optional | Built-in optical camera | Built-in optical camera |
| Damage to samples | Contact | Contact | Non-contact | Non-contact |
