Optical measurement of roughness on cylinders with thick, refractive coatings

The performance of printers and copiers often depends in part on the surface topography and roughness of cylindrical components used in paper handling, cleaning, toner deposition, and electrostatic image formation. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a reliable, inexpensive optical technique for rapidly estimating the roughness of an ablated, thick polymer film on an elastic, cylindrical substrate. The intended application is to component inspection and process control in a manufacturing environment. © 1989 SPIE.