Apparatus for measuring surface form

• US 6,459,493 B1
• Filed: 06/14/1996
• Issued: 10/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kubota, Shigeo, Sugiura, Minako, Eguchi, Naoya
• Primary Examiner(s): STAFIRA, MICHAEL PATRICK
• Application Number:
  US08/663,742
• Time in Patent Office: 2,300 Days
• Field of Search: 356/376, 356/1, 356/4, 356/375, 356/371, 250/214.B, 250/214.C, 731/46, 359/206
• US Class Current: 356/630
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/06 for measuring thickness ; e.g. of sheet material thickness measurement by thermal means G01B21/085

Abstract

A second harmonic generating element radiates a laser beam having a wavelength of 532 nm onto a substrate surface. The laser beam corresponds to the second harmonic beam of a fundamental laser beam having a wavelength of 1064 nm. An emitting optical system emits the laser beam vertically to the substrate surface so that the laser beam is made linear. An observing means has a optical axis Lo oriented in a different direction from a optical axis Li of the emitting optical system and provides a CCD image sensor served as a two-dimensional imaging device located in conjugation with the height or thickness of the substrate surface. The observing means operates to observe a light section image formed by the linear beam fired by the emitting optical system onto the substrate surface. Then, an image processing means precisely measures the form of the surface of an object to be measured as suppressing degrade of an S/N ratio, on the basis of the image data of the light section image observed by the observing means.

Claims

1. An apparatus for measuring solder thickness on a surface to be measured, comprising:

a light source;

an optical system configured to transmit light from the light source to the surface to be measured with the solder as a beam of light with a wavelength of less than 560 nm;

observing means having (1) an optical axis oriented in a direction that is different than that of an optical axis of the optical system and (2) a two-dimensional image sensor located to receive light reflected from the surface to be measured; and

image processing means operatively coupled to the observing means for measuring the thickness of the solder based on image signals generated by the observing means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beam of light was a wavelength from 475 to 560 nm.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the observing means includes an imaging lens that condenses the light reflected from the surface to be measured onto an image surface of the two-dimensional image sensor so that an axis L_I of the beam of light as it reaches the surface to be measure, a line L_P perpendicular to an optical axis L_O of the imaging lens, and a line L_Q extending along a plane of the image surface of the two-dimensional image sensor intersect at one point.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source includes:

a semiconductor laser element;

a solid laser excited by a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser element; and

a non-linear optical crystalline element located in a resonator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical system includes:

a collimator lens that transforms the light beam emitted by the light source into a parallel light flux;

a cylindrical lens that magnifies in one direction a diameter of the parallel light flux from the collimator lens; and

a condensing lens that condenses light from the cylindrical lens.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the imaging lens has a magnification of 4×

and an operating distance of 30 to 50 nm.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein an angle θ

formed by line Li and optical axis Lo is related to an angle Φ

formed by lines L_P and L_Q as follows;

8. An apparatus for measuring solder thickness on a surface to be measured, comprising:

a light source;

an optical system that receives light from the light source and directs a beam of light with a wavelength in the range of 470 to 560 nm obliquely onto the surface to be measured so that the beam of light is linear on the surface to be measured;

observing means having a two-dimensional image sensor located perpendicularly to a height direction of the surface to be measured and which receives an image formed by light reflected from the surface to be measured; and

an image processor operatively in communication with the observing means, the image processor generating a measurement of the solder thickness based on signals generated by the two-dimensional image sensor.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the observing means includes an imaging lens operatively positioned between the two-dimensional image sensor and the surface to be measured, and the imaging lens has a magnification of 4×

and an operating distance of 30 to 50 nm.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the observing means includes an imaging lens that condenses the light reflected from the surface to be measured onto an image surface of the two-dimensional image sensor so that the a axis of the beam of light as it reaches surface to be measured, a line L_P perpendicular to an optical axis L_O of the imaging lens, and a line L_Q extending along a plane of the image surface of the two-dimensional image sensor intersect at one point.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the light source includes:

a semiconductor laser element;

a solid laser excited by a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser element; and

a non-linear optical crystalline element located in a resonator.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein an angle θ

formed by line Li and optical axis L_O is related to an angle Φ

formed by lines L_P and L_Q as follows;

13. An apparatus for measuring features on a circuit board, comprising:

a laser;

an optic system operatively positioned and configured to transmit the light from the laser onto the circuit board as a beam of light with a wavelength in the range of 470 to 560 nm;

an image sensor capable of resolving images in two dimensions and operatively positioned to receive light reflected from the circuit board;

an imaging lens operatively positioned between the circuit board and the image sensor to condense the light reflected from the circuit board before it reaches the image sensor; and

an image processor operatively in communication with the image sensor and configured to generate measurement of height of features on the circuit board based on signals generated by the image sensor,

wherein,

an axis L_I of the beam of light a line L_P perpendicular to an optical axis L_O of the imaging lens and a line L_Q extending along a plane of an imaging surface of the image sensor intersect at one point.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein an angle θ

formed by line Li and optical axis L_O is related to an angle Φ

formed by lines L_P and L_Q as follows;

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the optical system includes:

a collimator lens that transforms the light beam emitted by the light source into a parallel light flux;

a cylindrical lens that magnifies in one direction a diameter of the parallel light flux from the collimator lens; and

a condensing lens that condenses light from the cylindrical lens.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the imaging lens has a magnification of 4×

and an operating distance of 30 to 50 nm.