Industrial Calibration Procedure for Confocal Microscopes

• Published in: Materials Vol. 12; no. 24; p. 4137
• Main Authors: Mínguez Martínez, Alberto, de Vicente Y Oliva, Jesús
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.12.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Calibration; Dimensional measurement; Geometry; Laboratories; Manufacturers; Microscopes; Microscopy; Optical instruments; Quality standards; R&D; Reference materials; Research & development; Sensors; Software; Three dimensional imaging; Topography; confocal microscopy; coordinate metrology; quality assessment; traceability; uncertainty; calibration; measurement
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma12244137

Coordinate metrology techniques are widely used in industry to carry out dimensional measurements. For applications involving measurements in the submillimeter range, the use of optical, non-contact instruments with suitable traceability is usually advisable. One of the most used instruments to perform measurements of this type is the confocal microscope. In this paper, the authors present a complete calibration procedure for confocal microscopes designed to be implemented preferably in workshops or industrial environments rather than in research and development departments. Therefore, it has been designed to be as simple as possible. The procedure was designed without forgetting any of the key aspects that need to be taken into account and is based on classical reference material standards. These standards can be easily found in industrial dimensional laboratories and easily calibrated in accredited calibration laboratories. The procedure described in this paper can be easily adapted to calibrate other optical instruments (e.g., focus variation microscopes) that perform 3D dimensional measurements in the submillimeter range.