3D

Optical profilers are precision metrology instruments that measure surface topography without contacting the part. Optical profilers generate a height map of a surface and are used to evaluate form, texture, and discrete surface features in laboratory and production metrology.

ZYGO Optical Profiler systems provide fast, noncontact, high-accuracy, 3D metrology of surface features. ZYGO Optical Profiler systems include MetroPro software for advanced data analysis. The optical profiler product family uses scanning white-light interferometry as its core technology.^[1]

The ZYGO Maxim 3-D system was used in a calibration study based on measuring a silicon step artifact and computing the power spectral density of the measured edge. The study reports measurements on the ZYGO Maxim 3D profiler with objective magnifications from 2.5x to 40x.^[2]

Optical surface profilers sit in the metrology flow rather than in a material removal or deposition step. Optical profilers are typically used between process steps to verify whether a surface or patterned feature meets topography and roughness targets before later assembly, coating, polishing, or lithographic work.

ZYGO Optical Profiler systems are used for characterizing and quantifying surface roughness, step heights, critical dimensions, and other topographical features. The ZYGO Maxim 3-D system was used in a profiler calibration context to measure a fabricated step-height standard.^[1][2]