Flatness on-machine measurement system of chemical mechanical polishing process for large-caliber tin plates

In planar optics machining, surface flatness is a critical requirement for making high-quality optical devices. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is an important process of smoothing surfaces for hard and brittle planar optics. Thus, there are growing interests in developing high-precision flatness on-machine measurement system for tin plate CMP process. However, the traditional evaluation measurement cannot meet the measurement accuracy requirement of approximate 2 μm. In this study, we propose an effective on-machine measuring system for the large-caliber optical tin plate, which consists of linear guideway, rotary table, and measuring sensor. In the system, the straightness error of the guideway and the axial runout error of the rotary table are compensated using a spiral method and the Keyence LK-G5000 measuring sensor. First, the spiral measuring path is formed by the movement of the line guideway and rotary table, which can prevent from multiple calibration. Then, the 3D flatness error of the dressing process is measured by linear movement of the LK-G5000 and the rotation of the tin plate. After the primary measurement process, the obtained 3D flatness error is compensated for straightness and axial runout error in sequence. To verify the accuracy of the flatness measurement, the tin plate is dressed by the natural diamond tool according to the measured 3D flatness error. After the dressing process, the peak-valley value of the remeasured flatness error can achieve 2.12 μm through a single-step dressing. The experimental results provide the accuracy and reliability of the high-precision on-machine flatness measurement system for the large-caliber tin plate.