A spiral scanning probe system for micro-aspheric surface profile measurement

Abstract

This paper presents a novel spiral scanning probe measurement system which is developed to achieve precise profile measurements of micro-aspheric surfaces. The system consists of a scanning stage (a spindle and a linear slide) and a contact-type displacement sensor. The contact-type sensor is employed for the scanning of the micro-aspheric surface. The micro-aspheric object is set on the spindle, and the contact-type displacement sensor is set on the linear slide. The motions of the spindle and the linear slide are controlled synchronously so that the micro-aspheric object is scanned spirally for high-speed measurement. The motions of the stage are used as the scanning datum for the profile measurement. Because the error motions of the stage are estimated to be on the order of tens of nanometer, these errors are measured and compensated to achieve precise measurements. The alignment error between the spindle rotation axis and the probe tip of the contact-type displacement sensor, which is called the centering error, is confirmed to cause considerable measurement error of the micro-aspheric surface profile. Methods are proposed to make the alignment accurately. Experiments of surface profile measurement of a micro-aspheric lens are also carried out in the measurement system.