Recent developments in surface roughness characterization

Abstract

The author presents an overview of evaluation techniques that are appropriate for characterizing the surface roughness of optical thin films and surfaces. These include microscopes ranging from low power optical microscopes to scanning probe microscopes that can measure the topography of individual atoms or groups of atoms, optical non-contact and mechanical contact profilers, some of which can give topographic maps of surface areas, and total integrated scattering and angle-resolved scattering that yield statistical properties of surfaces. Theories are needed to relate scattering to surface roughness; these are valid only for certain types of roughness. Examples are given showing how various surface evaluation techniques can be used for characterizing selected surfaces.

The Spatial Spectrum of Tangential Skin Displacement Can Encode Tactual Texture

“…In a single sentence, it is hard to discuss the sensations caused by rough burlap, those resulting from finely machined bronze, or those derived from the velvety skin of an apricot. To make things worse, from a physical view point, and even restricting attention to hard materials, texture and roughness can be characterized in many different ways that also depend on the method used to measure it [2], [3]. With soft materials the situation is even more inextricable.…”

Hydrogel Contact Lenses Surface Roughness and Bacterial Adhesion

“…Even areas considered "very smooth" show a complex mix of geometric features. Surface roughness is becoming increasingly important for applications in many fields (Bennett, 1992). Among other factors, surface roughness of devices in direct contact with living systems will influence their biological reactivity.…”

“…Among other factors, surface roughness of devices in direct contact with living systems will influence their biological reactivity. How a surface is finished is an important factor for a good operation of many types of products, which include optical products (Bennett, 1992), related to engineering (Blunt, 2006), food (Sheen et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2009) and biomedical products (Hooton et al, 2004;Hooton et al, 2006;Linneweber et al, 2007;Lee et al, 2009). The surface of any body or object is the part which interacts with the surrounding environment.…”

“…White Light Optical Perfilometer (WLOP) is one of the preferred methods of precision surface characterization in many fields (Caber, 1993;Windecker and Tiziani, 1999;Bennett, 1992;O'Mahony et al, 2003). WLOP is a topographic technique, that as well as AFM, enables the analysis of surface topography and roughness by means of a nondestructively methodology.…”

“…Further, a smooth surface is essential for the optical quality of a contact lens since reduced scattered light improves the performance of an optical system (Bennett, 1992). Developments in soft contact lens materials continue to be an important issue, since the performance and comfort of a contact lens will depend on the material, its surface architecture and the quality of the lens manufacturing process (Lorentz et al, 2007;Riley et al, 2006;Guillon and Maissa, 2007).…”