Experimental investigation of an air-bearing displacement sensor for on-machine surface form measurement of micro-structures

This paper presents the experimental results of investigating the performances of an air-bearing displacement sensor for surface form measurement of micro-structures, such as micro-lenses, on an ultra-precision machine tool. The sensor consists of a stylus for contacting the surface, a shaft for mounting the stylus, an air-bearing for suspending the shaft and a blade spring for applying the measuring force against the surface. At first, experiments were conducted on a vibration isolated table to identify the basic performance of the sensor for displacement measurement. Then, the sensor was mounted on a diamond turning machine for evaluating the performance of the sensor for on-machine surface form measurement of micro-lenses. A roll workpiece, on which a micro-lens array was fabricated by using a fast tool servo on the diamond turning machine, was employed as the specimen for the on-machine experiment of surface profile measurement.