Laser Surface Profiler
Optics Letters
By accurately measuring the angle of reflection of a laser beam incident on a reflective surface with a position sensitive detector, changes in the surface normal direction (slope of the surface) can be determined directly. An instrument has been built that makes repeated measurements over the surface, and uses this data to produce a grayscale image of the slope. The resolution of this system to changes in the surface normal direction is found to be better than 0.01 degrees. By focusing the Iaser beam to achieve a lateral resolution of 5 pm, the resolvable surface height change due to a variation in slope is estimated to be <1 nm.