Optical Metrology of Surfaces

Measurement of surface topography plays an important role in manufacturing, being used for both the control of manufacturing processes and for final product acceptance. These measurements can be performed with a variety of instruments which have different capabilities and limitations. In this paper we present a wide variety of instruments that are used for measuring surface topography using optical techniques. These range from systems that are over a century old to recently-developed instrumentation that has broad new capability. We have, insofar as possible, tried to cover all of the instruments used in the visible region; however, considering the plethora of techniques and papers discovered, some omission is certainly possible.