Surface texture measuring instrument

• US 7,319,528 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2005
• Issued: 01/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitutoyo Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitutoyo Corporation
• Inventors: Hidaka, Kazuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Toatley, Jr.; Gregory J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRYANT, REBECCA CAROLE
• Application Number:
  US11/263,742
• Publication Number:
  US 20060109480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 356/600, 356/511, 356/495, 356/489, 356/496, 356/501, 356/514, 356/73
• US Class Current: 356/600
• CPC Class Codes: G01Q 30/02 Non-SPM analysing devices, e.g. SEM [Scanning Electron Microscope], spectrometer or optical microscope
• CPC Class Codes: G01Q 40/00 Calibration, e.g. of probes
• CPC Class Codes: G01Q 60/22 Probes, their manufacture, or their related instrumentation, e.g. holders

Abstract

A surface texture measuring instrument provided with a near-field measuring unit (30) including a near-field probe (33) that forms a near-field light at a tip end thereof when a laser beam is irradiated, a laser source (35) that generates the laser beam to be irradiated on the near-field probe (33), a detection element (38) that detects scattering effect of the near-field light generated when the near-field probe (33) is moved close to a workpiece (1), and an actuator (32) that displaces the near-field probe (33) and the workpiece (1) in a direction moving close to/away from each other, includes: a laser length-measuring unit (20) that measures a relative distance between a reference position and the workpiece (1) in the vicinity of the tip end of the near-field probe (33) or a relative distance between the reference position and the near-field probe (33).

Claims

1. A surface texture measuring instrument provided with a near-field measuring unit including a near-field probe that forms a near-field light at a tip end thereof when a laser beam is irradiated, a laser source that generates the laser beam to be irradiated on the near-field probe, a detection element that detects scattering effect of the near-field light generated when the near-field probe is moved close to a workpiece, and an actuator that displaces the near-field probe and the workpiece in a direction moving close to/away from each other, comprising:

a laser length-measuring unit that measures a relative distance between a reference position and the workpiece in the vicinity of the tip end of the near-field probe, wherein the laser source generates the laser beam with wavelength λ

1, the laser length-measuring unit utilizes the laser beam with wavelength λ

2 which is smaller than the wavelength λ

1, and the near-field probe has an opening through which the laser beams from the laser source and the laser length-measuring unit are input, the opening being larger than wavelength λ

2 and smaller than wavelength λ

1 in diameter.

2. The surface texture measuring instrument according to claim 1, wherein the laser length-measuring unit is a laser length-measuring interferometer that splits the laser beam into two beams, one of which is irradiated on the workpiece in the vicinity of the tip end of the near-field probe and the other one of which is irradiated on a reference face as the reference position, to measure a relative distance between the reference position and a laser irradiated portion of the workpiece based on interference light caused by reflected light from the workpiece and reflected light from the reference position.

3. The surface texture measuring instrument according to claim 1, further comprising:

a relative movement unit that moves the workpiece such that the near-field probe is relatively moved along the surface of the workpiece; and

a drive controller that drives the actuator such that an output from the detection element becomes constant.

4. The surface texture measuring instrument according to claim 1, wherein an optical axis of the laser beam of the near-field measuring unit irradiated toward the near-field probe is coaxially arranged relative to an optical axis of the laser beam of the laser length-measuring unit.

5. The surface texture measuring instrument according to claim 1, wherein

the near-field probe includes a first supporting body, a second supporting body coupled to the first supporting body, a piezoelectric element disposed between the first and second supporting bodies, and a balancer disposed on a surface of the second supporting body opposite to the piezoelectric element,

the first supporting body includes a first supporter having an inner space, and a probe head supported at the center of the inner space of the first supporter via a plurality of beams respectively extending from equiangular arrangement positions of the first supporter toward the center and having an opening for forming the near-field light,

the second supporting body includes a second supporter coupled to the first supporter and having an inner space, and a ring-like holder supported at the center of the inner space of the second supporter via a plurality of beams respectively extending from equiangular arrangement positions of the second supporter toward the center,

the piezoelectric element is disposed between the probe head of the first supporting body and the holder of the second supporting body and is formed cylindrical centering on an axis penetrating through the center of the first and second supporting bodies so as to vibrate in the axial direction, and

the balancer is cylindrical and coaxially disposed relative to the axis of the piezoelectric element, mass of the balancer being equal to that of the probe head.

6. The surface texture measuring instrument according to claim 1, further comprising:

a calibration unit that refers to relative distance information measured by the laser length-measuring unit and converts a driving amount of the actuator of the near-field measuring unit into distance information.