NEW good practice guidelines and calibration standards in optical metrology are being developed by a team at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) led by principal research scientist Professor Richard Leach.
Olympus Lext OLS4000 is used at NPL to develop new metrology standards
Presenting preliminary data at the 10th International Symposium on Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments (ISMTII) held in Daejeon, Korea, in June and July 2011,, Professor Leach said that these new standards, developed using an Olympus Lext OLS4000 laser measuring microscope,will help eliminate background noise and data uncertainties, and increase reliability and accuracy.
The good practice guide on the calibration of confocal microscopes will also provide input to the upcoming ISO/WD 25178-607 specification standard, currently in development.
Professor Leach’s team is defining good practice guidelines for white light interferometers, focus variation instruments, and confocal microscopes. As part of the project, NPL is developing a box of reference artefacts including optical flat, lateral grids, step heights, and sphere-on-plane, to facilitate calibration to the latest draft ISO standard.