Challenges and opportunities for 3D optical metrology: what is needed today from an industry perspective

Abstract

The field of 3D optical metrology has seen significant growth in the commercial market in recent years. The methods of using structured light to obtain 3D range data is well documented in the literature, and continues to be an area of development in universities. In some areas such as semi-conductor manufacturing, optical components, and some other specialized fields of precision metrology optical methods has gained acceptance as both a reference tool and in many cases part of the manufacturing processes. Such tools as flatness checkers, white light interference microscopes, and the new vibration insensitive interferometer systems have offered new opportunities to applications that once were limited to isolated laboratory systems. There are still many challenges to address to make 3D optical metrology attractive to the wider areas of manufacturing such as general machining, metal forming, and molding operations. This paper will briefly review some of the tools available today, where the opportunities may still lie, and what the gaps are that still remain to bridge the gap to wider spread use of the technology.