Polytec: New 0.6X lens for surface analysis

In order to assess quality in production, semi-finished products and component surfaces are often inspected based on condition, shape parameters or roughness. This surface characterization provides information about upstream production steps, particularly in the case of machining or mechanical processing, and ensures dimensional accuracy in order to guarantee function and durability. Polytec has now developed its own 0.6X lens for its surface profilometers in order to blur the boundaries between microscopic and macroscopic observation. TopMap white light interferometers from Polytec inspect surfaces using coherence scanning interferometry. This means that they scan large areas without contact and resolve even the finest pores, textures and microstructures - with z-resolution down to the sub-nm range if required.

In practice, several parameters are usually relevant in parallel: for example, the flatness of a sealing surface while maintaining the exact step height to a neighboring partial surface as well as the minimum roughness. Instead of a multi-sensor approach or time-consuming stitching for large-area analysis of the shape parameters on the one hand and high-resolution microstructure observation on the other, Polytec now supplies the link of a 0.6X lens. The modular TopMap Micro.View+ microscope system offers autofocus and automatic focus tracking as well as an automatic turret - previously with magnifications from 2.5X to 111X. Now newly equipped with a 0.6X objective, its single measuring field has been extended to 15.53 x 11.71 mm², which means that it not only captures roughness, structural details and microtopography without contact, but also measures the flatness of larger surfaces and components more quickly and efficiently. With a working distance of 9.2 mm, it offers a measuring point distance of 9.76 µm.