Design and simulation of a rapid high percision profilometer

Abstract

A high precision profilometry system was developed for the quality assurance inspection of twosided samples. Based on system specifications and requirements, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was determined to be the most appropriate profilometry technique. The major components of the device include: (1) A commercially available auto-sensing AFM probe, (2) custom designed probe positioning hardware, (3) sample positioning hardware, (4) probe tip calibration and image processing, and (5) scanned image processing and convolution. The primary focus of this thesis is on the probe positioning hardware design and simulation of the customized profilometer. The design enables the system to simultaneously scan both surfaces of the sample, which increases speed, as well as compensate for distorted samples. The image reconstruction algorithms and system homogeneous transformation matrices (HTMs) are utilized in the simulations of the system. The simulations examine multiple scanning scenarios to determine the necessary requirements of the device to achieve the specified resolution. The system variables available in the simulations are: (1) probe tip contour, (2) actuator specifications, and (3) sample orientation. Finally, recommended device specifications are determined and documented.