A diagram borrowed from holographic interferometry has been applied to visualize phenomena in Special Relativity. It displays how a sphere of observation is by velocity elongated into an ellipsoid of observation and produces graphically all the well accepted equations of Einsteins Special Relativity. The Lorentz contraction, however, is explained as an elongation of the measuring rod, the meter, which by definition is based on either a specific number of wavelengths or the velocity of light multiplied by time. The diagram displays the total apparent object distortions including not only the Lorentz contraction but also larger apparent contractions and elongations caused by the classic Doppler Effect. The reasons of these deformations are the delays caused by variations in distance from observer to different parts of the moving object. In this paper we do not discuss the meaning of apparent, as compared to real, deformation.

In holographic interferometry, there is usually a static distance separating the point of illumination and the point of observation. In Special Relativity, this separation is dynamic and is caused by the velocity of the observer. The corrections needed to compensate for these separations are similar in the two fields. We use the ellipsoids of the holodiagram for measurement and in a graphic way to explain and evaluate optical resolution, gated viewing, radar, holography, three-dimensional interferometry, Special Relativity, and light-in-flight recordings. Lorentz contraction together with time dilation is explained as the result of the eccentricity of the measuring ellipsoid, caused by its velocity. The extremely thin ellipsoid of the very first light appears as a beam aimed directly at the observer, which might explain the wave or ray duality of light and entanglement. Finally, we introduce the concept of ellipsoids of observation.

Information is carried by matter or by energy and thus Einstein stated that "no information can travel faster than light." He also was very critical to the "Spooky action at distance" as described in Quantum Physics. However, many verified experiments have proven that the "Spooky actions" not only work at distance but also that they travel at a velocity faster than light, probably at infinite velocity. Examples are Young's fringes at low light levels or entanglements. My explanation is that this information is without energy. In the following I will refer to this spooky information as exformation, where "ex-" refers to existence, the information is not transported in any way, it simply exists. Thus Einstein might have been wrong when he stated that no information can travel faster than light. But he was is right in that no detectable information can travel faster than light. Phenomena connected to entanglement appear at first to be exceptions, but in those cases the information can not be reconstructed until energy is later sent in the form of correlation using ordinary information at the velocity of light. In entanglement we see that even if the exformation can not be detected directly because its luck of energy it still can influence what happens at random, bemuse in Quantum Physics there is by definition no energy difference between two states that happen randomly.

For 15 years, lensless microscopes have been constructed based on the use of holography, a digital CCD detector, and a computer for image reconstruction by use of, e.g., Fourier transformation. Thus, no lens is involved and therefore the conventional resolution limit of half the wavelength no longer applies. Instead of being limited by the wavelength, the resolution is in this case limited by how exact one can measure the phases of the light. It is remarkable that the interference-limited resolution is approximately 0.01X, whereas the diffraction-limited resolution is only of the order of 0.5X. It is my hope that by combining these two techniques it will be possible to increase the magnification in optical systems by at least an order of magnitude. The calculations at so indicate that information does not necessarily decrease with distance.

The relation between the surface topography of injection-molded plastic objects with deliberately imposed textures and their gloss, measured by means of a conventional glossmeter at incident angles of 20 degrees, 60 degrees and 85 degrees, was investigated. A modification of the general scalar Kirchhoff approximation, which accounts for geometrical features of the glossmeter, is used to describe the experimental gloss values of the textured surfaces. The agreement between the measured and the calculated values for incidence angles of 20 degrees and 60 degrees confirms the usefulness of the approach, though several of the textured surfaces used here are too rough for the Kirchhoff theory to be strictly valid. A poorer agreement, however, was noted at higher incidence angles (85 degrees in this case). For very smooth surfaces (without any texture), the classical Bennett-Porteus theory could in many cases describe the gloss level with sufficient accuracy. The influence on the measured gloss of the polymer material (in terms of its refractive index) and the color of the injection-molded object is also discussed. Light beige specimens in three different polymeric materials (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/polycarbonate blend, and polypropylene) as well as three acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene products with different colors were used. The refractive index of the polymer had no major influence on the measured gloss. The gloss level increased slightly with increasing lightness of the specimens, which can be associated with an increased contribution from the bulk scattering. However, the surface texture governed most of the gloss variations.

Micro manufacturing has developed into many areas over the past decade. Several manufacturing technologies are available but the precision and accuracy of the techniques are still difficult to get access to. Typically the capability information of micro milling equipment is based on specifications given by the machine deliverers. The specified high accuracy is likely to be altered in practice because of environmental conditions and operator skills. So in practice the absolute performances of micro milling/machining equipment may be far off from their listed specifications. When forming the EUMINAfab infrastructure consortium it was decided that independent high precision verification testsshould be made on different installations to help the micro-manufacturers to get the real capability information of their equipment and be able to improve performance to a higher EUMINAfab level. In this study a comprehensive verification test was designed and carried out by using an ultra-precision metrology method for 2D measurements in order to establish more knowledge about the capabilities of micro milling equipment. The measurement results show the machine’s X,Y positioning accuracy, pseudo-repeatability, reproducibility and axis straightness of two different micro milling installations.

The need for accurate measurements of long range low amplitude topographic structure of specular (glossy) surfaces has been increased in automotive and aircraft industries. Optical measurement techniques are the most successful techniques to measure different surface structures with high resolution and high accuracy and at high speed. However, for glossy, specular surfaces many commercial techniques based on surface scattering fail. Fringe Reflection Technique (FRT), mimicking the human observation process of specular surfaces, is then a robust and suitable solution for measuring these surfaces. In our research we are interested in measuring waviness in the micron range over cm long spatial wavelengths. The artefact investigated is a flat casted and painted composite surface. By using a simple and non-expensive FRT-setup, combined with image analysis algorithms high resolution data were obtained. The results match well with reference data obtained by a Coherix interferometer with height measures of some ten micrometers over waviness having a lateral structure of several cm.

Laser micro-machining is a growing field for micro manufacturing in many different materials. To obtain a better understanding of the accuracy of laser micro-machining equipment, moreover machine’s specification, a precise verification test is needed to measure the absolute performance of the machine. Available capability information is usually based on specifications given for the machine installations by machine deliverers. But in practice the absolute performances of some of the micro laser machines are way far off from their specifications. When forming the EUMINAfab infrastructure consortium it was decided that independent high precision verification tests should be made on different installations to help the micro-manufacturers to get the real capability information of their equipment and be able to improve performance to a higher EUMINAfab level. In this study a comprehensive verification test was designed and carried out by using an ultra-precision metrology method in order to establish more knowledge about the capabilities of the laser micro-machining equipment. The measurement results show the machine’s X,Y position accuracy, pseudo-repeatability and reproducibility of three different laser micro-machining installations.

The 4M Network of Excellence started on 1st October 2004. It is a consortium of 30 academic and research organisations that came together to form the network under the European Commission's 6th Framework Research Programme. The Network has developed a knowledge community in Micro- and Nano- Technology (MNT) for the batch-manufacture of microcomponents and devices in a variety of materials for future microsystems products, particularly in non-silicon materials. This paper gives an overview of the structure, operation and activity of the network since its inception, illustrating the network's progress towards its goals.

This paper gives a brief overview of the activities of the 4M Network of Excellence during the last nine months of its funded period. The 4M Divisions summarise their activity and outline their plans to continue to working together in future. Finally a summary of achievements during the whole lifetime of the Network is given

This report follows on from last year's "Progress Report 2004-2006" and gives an update on the continuing activities, such as the 4M Network cross-divisional projects and annual conference, as well as a description of the new activities in its third and forth year, such as the first 4M Summer School and Book Series. Finally, as the end of the funded lifetime of the network approaches the steps being taken to set up a 4M Association, which aims to create the organizational infrastructure to support the 4M Knowledge Community established in the last five years, are described.

Large area flat displays are nowadays considered being a commodity. After the era of bulky CRT TV technology, LCD and OLED have taken over as the most prevalent technologies for high quality image display devices. An important factor underlying the success of these technologies has been the development of high performance photomask writers in combination with a precise photomask process. Photomask manufacturing can be regarded as an art, highly dependent on qualified and skilled workers in a few companies located in Asia. The manufacturing yield in the photomask process depends to a great extent on several steps of measurements and inspections. Metrology, which is the focus of this thesis, is the science of measurement and is a prerequisite for maintaining high quality in all manufacturing processes. The details and challenges of performing critical measurements over large area photomasks of square meter sizes will be discussed. In particular the development of methods and algorithms related to the metrology system MMS15000, the world standard for large area photomask metrology today, will be presented.

The most important quality of a metrology system is repeatability. Achieving good repeatability requires a stable environment, carefully selected materials, sophisticated mechanical solutions, precise optics and capable software. Attributes of the air including humidity, CO₂ level, pressure and turbulence are other factors that can impact repeatability and accuracy if not handled properly. Besides the former qualities, there is also the behavior of the photomask itself that needs to be carefully handled in order to achieve a good correspondence to the Cartesian coordinate system. An uncertainty specification below 100 nm (3σ) over an area measured in square meters cannot be fulfilled unless special care is taken to compensate for gravity-induced errors from the photomask itself when it is resting on the metrology tool stage. Calibration is therefore a considerable challenge over these large areas. A novel method for self-calibration will be presented and discussed in the thesis. This is a general method that has proven to be highly robust even in cases when the self-calibration problem is close to being underdetermined.

A random sampling method based on massive averaging in the time domain will be presented as the solution for achieving precise spatial measurements of the photomask patterns. This method has been used for detection of the position of chrome or glass edges on the photomask with a repeatability of 1.5 nm (3σ), using a measurement time of 250 ms. The method has also been used for verification of large area measurement repeatability of approximately 10 nm (3σ) when measuring several hundred measurement marks covering an area of 0.8 x 0.8 m².

The measurement of linewidths, referred to in the photomask industry as critical dimension (CD) measurements, is another important task for the MMS15000 system. A threshold-based inverse convolution method will be presented that enhances resolution down to 0.5 µm without requiring a change to the numerical aperture of the system.

As already mentioned, metrology is very important for maintaining high quality in a manufacturing environment. In the mask manufacturing industry in particular, the cost of poor quality (CoPQ) is extremely high. Besides the high materials cost, there are also the stringent requirements placed on CD and mask overlay, along with the need for zero defects that make the photomask industry unique. This topic is discussed further, and is shown to be a strong motivation for the development of the ultra-precision metrology built into the MMS15000 system.

The demands and solutions for ultra-precision metrology in the manufacturing of lithography masks for the display industry are indeed challenging. Specification demands to be overcome are a measurement repeatability of 10 nm (3 σ) and an absolute accuracy of better than 100 nm (3 σ) on a scale of more than 1.5 m in the X and Y directions. The design of a measurement system that meets these requirements calls for careful selections of materials such as metal, ceramic composites, quartz or glass as they at this precision level are highly affected by the surrounding temperature. Also the fact that the refractive index of air in the interferometers measuring absolute distances is affected by temperature, pressure, humidity and CO2 content make the reference measurements really challenging [1].

As in many other areas in the industry high quality metrology is the key for success in developing high accuracy production tools. This paper will therefore start by introducing the metrology requirements of mask making for display screens and end with the state-of-the-art results we have achieved.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of metrology in the industrial production process.

Different kinds of processes, like mass production of parts and the very special photo mask process will be

discussed. It will be shown how much impact metrology has on the added value of the product in the latter

process. Proper inspection planning with feedbacks from the process at certain points is very important for

both keeping up the yield and also keeping the process stable. In the example presented about the photo

mask process bad inspection planning will have extreme consequences. Another aspect that will be

discussed is the problem when metrology tools or production tools do not fulfil their intended specifications.

In many cases the user is completely dependent on the tools without any chance to verify their performance.

This will of course lead to poor quality. Solutions to these kinds of problems generate additional costs in

investments but will in the long run pay off since quality can be assured.

Metrology is the science of measurement. It is also a prerequisite for maintaining a high quality in all manufacturing processes. In this thesis we will present the demands and solutions for ultra-precision metrology in the manufacturing of lithography masks for the TV-display industry. The extreme challenge that needs to be overcome is a measurement uncertainty of 10 nm on an absolute scale of more that 2 meters in X and Y. Materials such as metal, ceramic composites, quartz or glass are highly affected by the surrounding temperature when tolerances are specified at nanometer levels. Also the fact that the refractive index of air in the interferometers measuring absolute distances is affected by temperature, pressure, humidity and CO2 contents makes the reference measurements really challenging. This goes hand in hand with the ability of how to design a mask writer, a pattern generator with a performance good enough for writing masks for the display industry with sub-micron accuracy over areas of square meters.

 As in many other areas in the industry high quality metrology is the key for success in developing high accuracy production tools. The aim of this thesis is therefore to discuss the metrology requirements of mask making for display screens. Defects that cause stripes in the image of a display, the so called “Mura” effect, are extremely difficult to measure as they are caused by spatially systematic errors in the mask writing process in the range of 10-20 nm. These errors may spatially extend in several hundreds of mm and are superposed by random noise with significantly higher amplitude compared to the 10-20 nm.

 A novel method for measuring chromium patterns on glass substrates will also be presented in this thesis. This method will be compared to methods based on CCD and CMOS images. Different methods have been implementedin the Micronic MMS1500 large area measuring machine, which is the metrology tool used by the mask industry, for verifying the masks made by the Micronic mask writers. Using alternative methods in the same system has been very efficient for handling different measurement situations. Some of  the discussed methods are also used by the writers for calibration purposes.

Photomasks are used in the production of LCD, OLED and other kinds of displays. For TV displays these photomasks, made of quartz glass with a Cr pattern, may have sizes up to 1.62 × 1.78 m2 and a thickness up to 16 mm. The absolute placement accuracy, i.e. ×,Y position of a pi×el or line in the mask pattern needs to be better than 150 nm (3s). The demand for higher resolution displays has led to tighter flatness requirements of the photomask, to secure that the chrome pattern is always in best focus. In contrast to small area semiconductor masks with dimensions up to 300 × 300 mm2and three point supports, the large area photomasks have to rest on a large stage in the mask writer. It is then unavoidable that distortions will be induced due to the fact that the glass backside or stage surface is not perfectly flat. If not corrected for, these distortions in Z direction can easily generate geometrical errors in the ×,Y plane corresponding to pattern displacements of several hundred nanometers. To avoid these ×,Y errors we have developed a technique called Z-correction. It is a function developed for correcting the mask pattern placement prior to the writing process in the pattern generator or in a verification measurement in the MMS15000 metrology tool [1]. This is the first time this method is used for improving the accuracy of photo masks. It is based on height measurements of the quartz glass when it is resting on the stage during the temperature stabilizing time. Without using Z-correction it is very challenging to achieve an absolute uncertainty better than ∼200 nm (3s) over an area of 0.8 × 0.8 m2. With Z-correction it is possible to enhance this number to < 100 nm (3s). In the MMS15000 metrology tool the performance is even better, ∼50 nm (3s) over a 0.8 × 0.8 m2 stage area when using Z-correction in the self-calibration process. [2] [3].

The manufacturing of high-quality chrome masks used in the display industry for the manufacturing of liquid crystals, organic light emission diodes and other display devices would not be possible without high-precision large-area metrology. In contrast to the semiconductor industry where 6' masks are most common, the quartz glass masks for the manufacturing of large area TVs can have sizes of up to 1.6 x 1.8 m(2). Besides the large area, there are demands of sub-micrometer accuracy in 'registration', i.e. absolute dimensional measurements and nanometer requirements for 'overlay', i.e. repeatability. The technique for making such precise measurements on large masks is one of the most challenging tasks in dimensional metrology today. This paper presents a new approach to two-dimensional (2D) ultra-precision measurements based on random sampling. The technique was recently presented for ultra-precise one-dimensional (1D) measurement. The 1D method relies on timing the scanning of a focused laser beam 200 mu m in the Y-direction from an interferometrically determined reference position. This microsweep is controlled by an acousto-optical deflector. By letting the microsweep scan from random X-positions, we can build XY-recordings through a time-to-space conversion that gives very precise maps of the feature edges of the masks. The method differs a lot from ordinary image processing methods using CCD or CMOS sensors for capturing images in the spatial domain. We use events grabbed by a single detector in the time domain in both the X-and Y-directions. After a simple scaling, we get precise and repeatable spatial information. Thanks to the extremely linear microsweep and its precise power control, spatial and intensity distortions, common in ordinary image processing systems using 2D optics and 2D sensors, can be practically eliminated. Our 2D method has proved to give a standard deviation in repeatability of less than 4 nm (1 sigma) in both the X-and Y-directions over an area of approximately 0.8 x 0.8 m(2). Only feature edges are recorded, so all irrelevant information in areas containing constant intensity are filtered out already by the hardware. This relaxes the demands and complexity of the data channel dramatically compared to conventional imaging systems.

The manufacturing of flat panel displays requires a number of photomasks for the placement of pixel patterns and supporting transistor arrays. For large area photomasks, dedicated ultra-precision writers have been developed for the production of these chromium patterns on glass or quartz plates. The dimensional tolerances in X and Y for absolute pattern placement on these plates, with areas measured in square meters, are in the range of 200-300 nm (3 sigma). To verify these photomasks, 2D ultra-precision coordinate measurement machines are used having even tighter tolerance requirements. This paper will present how the world standard metrology tool used for verifying large masks, the Micronic Mydata MMS15000, is calibrated without any other references than the wavelength of the interferometers in an extremely well-controlled temperature environment. This process is called self-calibration and is the only way to calibrate the metrology tool, as no square-meter-sized large area 2D traceable artifact is available. The only parameter that cannot be found using self-calibration is the absolute length scale. To make the MMS15000 traceable, a 1D reference rod, calibrated at a national metrology lab, is used. The reference plates used in the calibration of the MMS15000 may have sizes up to 1 m(2) and a weight of 50 kg. Therefore, standard methods for self-calibration on a small scale with exact placements cannot be used in the large area case. A new, more general method had to be developed for the purpose of calibrating the MMS15000. Using this method, it is possible to calibrate the measurement tool down to an uncertainty level of <90 nm (3 sigma) over an area of (0.8 x 0.8) m(2). The method used, which is based on the concept of iteration, does not introduce any more noise than the random noise introduced by the measurements, resulting in the lowest possible noise level that can be achieved by any self-calibration method.

Mask writers and large area measurements systems are key systems for production of large liquid crystal displays (LCD) and image devices. With position tolerances in the sub-mu m range over square meter sized masks, the metrology challenges are indeed demanding. Most systems used for this type of measurement rely on a microscope camera imaging system, provided with a charge coupled device, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor sensor or a time delay and integration sensor to transform the optical image to a digital gray-level image. From this image, processing algorithms are used to extract information such as location of edges. The drawback of this technique is the vast amount of data captured but never used. This paper presents a new approach for ultra-high-precision lateral measurement at nm-levels of chrome/glass patterns separated by centimeters, so called registration marks, on masks used for the LCD manufacturing. Registration specifications demand a positioning accuracy <200 nm and critical dimensions, i.e. chrome line widths, which need to be accurate in the 80 nm range. This accuracy has to be achieved on glass masks of 2.4 x 1.6 m(2) size. Our new measurement method is based on nm-precise lateral scanning of a focused laser beam combined with statistical random phase sampling of the reflected signal. The precise scanning is based on an extremely accurate time measuring device controlling an acousto optic deflector crystal. The method has been successfully applied in measuring the 4 mu m pitch of reference gratings at standard deviations sigma of 0.5 nm and registration marks separated by several cm at standard deviations of 23 nm.

High-quality photomasks are a prerequisite for the production of flat panel TVs, tablets and other kinds of high-resolution displays. During the past years, the resolution demand has become more and more accelerated, and today, the high-definition standard HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels(2), is well established, and already the next-generation so-called ultra-high-definition UHD or 4K display is entering the market. Highly advanced mask writers are used to produce the photomasks needed for the production of such displays. The dimensional tolerance in X and Y on absolute pattern placement on these photomasks, with sizes of square meters, has been in the range of 200-300 nm (3 sigma), but is now on the way to be <150 nm (3 sigma). To verify these photomasks, 2D ultra-precision coordinate measurement machines are used with even tighter tolerance requirements. The metrology tool MMS15000 is today the world standard tool used for the verification of large area photomasks. This paper will present a method called Z-correction that has been developed for the purpose of improving the absolute X, Y placement accuracy of features on the photomask in the writing process. However, Z-correction is also a prerequisite for achieving X and Y uncertainty levels <90 nm (3 sigma) in the self-calibration process of the MMS15000 stage area of 1.4 x 1.5 m(2). When talking of uncertainty specifications below 200 nm (3 sigma) of such a large area, the calibration object used, here an 8-16 mmthick quartz plate of size approximately a square meter, cannot be treated as a rigid body. The reason for this is that the absolute shape of the plate will be affected by gravity and will therefore not be the same at different places on the measurement machine stage when it is used in the self-calibration process. This mechanical deformation will stretch or compress the top surface (i.e. the image side) of the plate where the pattern resides, and therefore spatially deform the mask pattern in the X- and Y-directions. Errors due to this deformation can easily be several hundred nanometers. When Z-correction is used in the writer, it is also possible to relax the flatness demand of the photomask backside, leading to reduced manufacturing costs of the plates.

Since its breakthrough, the liquid crystal technology has continued to gain momentum and the LCD is today the dominating display type used in desktop monitors, television sets, mobile phones as well as other mobile devices. To improve production efficiency and enable larger screen sizes, the LCD industry has step by step increased the size of the mother glass used in the LCD manufacturing process. Initially the mother glass was only around 0.1 m 2 large, but with each generation the size has increased and with generation 10 the area reaches close to 10 m2. The increase in mother glass size has in turn led to an increase in the size of the photomasks used - currently the largest masks are around 1.6 &amp;times; 1.8 meters. A key mask performance criterion is the absence of "mura" - small systematic errors captured only by the very sensitive human eye. To eliminate such systematic errors, special techniques have been developed by Micronic Mydata. Some mura suppressing techniques are described in this paper. Today, the race towards larger glass sizes has come to a halt and a new race - towards higher resolution and better image quality - is ongoing. The display mask is therefore going through a change that resembles what the semiconductor mask went through some time ago: OPC features are introduced, CD requirements are increasing sharply and multi tone masks (MTMs) are widely used. Supporting this development, Micronic Mydata has introduced a number of compensation methods in the writer, such as Z-correction, CD map and distortion control. In addition, Micronic Mydata MMS15000, the world's most precise large area metrology tool, has played an important role in improving mask placement quality and is briefly described in this paper. Furthermore, proposed specifications and system architecture concept for a new generation mask writers - able to fulfill future image quality requirements - is presented in this paper. This new system would use an AOD/AOM writing engine and be capable of resolving 0.6 micron features.

A precision study of two height measuring methods is carried out. The first method is based on a White Light Interferometer (WLI) and the second on a Co-ordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) equipped with an optical probe. The height measurements considered are in the range [150; 250] μm. Point and interval estimates of repeatability are reported in the paper. This study presents experimental evidence that, under repeatability conditions, the precision of the WLI method is about five times higher than that of the optical CMM method. Furthermore, the precision of WLI is constant over the investigated height range whereas a dependency of the CMM precision on the nominal dimensions is identified. For both methods a linear relationship is detected between the random error and the sequence in which the measurements are taken.

Thermography is a non-destructive technique which uses infrared radiation to obtain the temperature distribution of an object. The technique is increasingly used in the pulp and paper industry. To convert the detected infrared radiation to a temperature, the emittance of the material must be known. For several influencing parameters the emittance of paper and board has not previously been studied in detail. This is partly due to the lack of emittance measurement methods that allow for studying the influence of these parameters.

An angle-resolved goniometric method for measuring the infrared emittance of a material was developed in this thesis. The method is based on the reference emitter methodology, and uses commercial infrared cameras to determine the emittance. The method was applied to study the dependence on wavelength range, temperature, observation angle, moisture ratio, sample composition, and sample structure of the emittance of paper and board samples. It was found that the emittance varied significantly with wavelength range, observation angle and moisture ratio. The emittance was significantly higher in the LWIR (Long-Wavelength Infrared) range than in the MWIR (Mid-Wavelength Infrared) range. The emittance was approximately constant up to an observation angle of 60° in the MWIR range and 70° in the LWIR range, respectively. After that it started to decrease. The emittance of moist samples was significantly higher than that of dry samples. The influence of moisture ratio on the emittance could be estimated based on the moisture ratio of the sample, and the emittance of pure water and dry material, respectively.

The applicability of measured emittance values was demonstrated in an investigation of the mechanical properties of sack paper samples. An infrared camera was applied to monitor the generation of heat during a tensile test of a paper sample. It was found that the observed increase in thermal energy at the time of rupture corresponded well to the value of the elastic energy stored in the sample just prior to rupture. The measured emittance value provided an increased accuracy in the thermal energy calculation based on the infrared images.

A method for measuring the directional emittance of paper and board samples was developed. The available literature showed that the influence of temperature and observation angle on the emittance of dry and moist paper had not been investigated in detail. Methods adapted for such investigations were not available. In the developed method, the emittance of a sample is determined by comparing its infrared radiation with the radiation emitted from a reference surface with known emittance. In order to investigate the influence of the wavelength range, two cameras, operating in the mid-wavelength and long-wavelength infrared range, respectively, were used. The method allows for the adjustment of the directional emission angle in a range from 0° down to 80°, and variation of the sample temperature between 30°C and 100°C. A study was performed to evaluate the method. Here, the directional emittance of handsheets made from thermo-mechanical pulp was measured at different wavelength ranges, sample temperatures and emission angles. The obtained emittance values and trends were in agreement with previous experimental work and theoretical predictions. The emittance of the samples was also measured using Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Given the methodological differences between the two measurement approaches, the results were in good agreement.

The directional emittance of dry and moist paper and board samples was measured in two wavelength ranges; the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) range and the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) range. The influence of pulp type, pulp drying, pulp refining, fibre orientation, additives, coating, and observation angle on the emittance of dry paper was examined. The influence of sample moisture and observation angle on the emittance of moist samples was also investigated. The emittance in the LWIR range was higher than the MWIR emittance. The emittance varied with pulp type, especially for TMP, which had a significantly lower emittance compared to the samples made of chemical pulp. The impact of different properties, such as pulp type, refining or coating, was much smaller in the LWIR range than in the MWIR range. Observation angle was found to significantly impact the emittance at angles larger than 60 degrees from the normal direction in the MWIR range, and angles larger than 70 degrees in the LWIR range. The emittance increased with increasing moisture ratio. This increase was most pronounced at low absolute moisture ratios, where an addition of an already small amount of water could impart a large change in emittance. It was found that the emittance and sample moisture could be correlated well using a linear combination of the emittance of dry paper and pure water.

Thermography has been used to quantitatively analyze the plastic and elastic energy during deformation of paper. Sack paper samples were subjected to uniaxial tensile testing until rupture occurred. The temperature of the sample was simultaneously recorded with an infrared camera. The mechanical energy invested in the deformation was determined based on the force and deformation data. The thermal energy that accumulated in the sample during testing was estimated using the temperature measurements. Here, special attention was put on using the correct emittance values for the sack paper by measuring it with a new method. When comparing exerted mechanical energy with released thermal energy up to the time of sample rupture, about 40% to 60% of the mechanical energy could be detected as thermal energy. The lacking share of heat was most likely lost due to cooling of the sample during the experiments, as a lower share of detected mechanical energy was obtained for longer experiments. When comparing the increase in thermal energy during rupture to the elastic energy stored in the sample, an agreement of better than 90% was found.

Measurements of process variations and particle morphology are widely employed in the pulp and paper industry. Two techniques with high potential, infrared thermography and microparticle characterisation, are mainly used qualitatively. Quantitative thermography requires knowledge of the emittance, a material property which has not been measured under many process-relevant conditions. Quantitative characterisation of microparticles, e.g. pulp fines and mineral fillers, requires the analysis of a large number of particles, which can be accomplished using flow microscopes. Flow microscopes for pulp analysis have had insufficient spatial resolution to resolve fines and fillers. Additionally, there has been a lack of methods which can differentiate between fines and fillers in a mixed suspension.

State-of-the-art instruments for particle image analysis were evaluated and compared to laser diffractometry, a measurement method based on scattering by diffraction. Laser diffractometry was found to be highly sensitive to the complex refractive index of the particles, and especially to its change due to moisture absorption. A high-resolution imaging flow cytometer and a high-resolution fibre analyser were found to be complementary for characterisation of pure fines and fines/filler mixtures, and superior to laser diffractometry. A method for differentiating between fines and fillers in a suspension based on their autofluorescence and side-scattering was proposed and qualitatively evaluated.

Furthermore, a method for measuring the directional and integrated emittance of paper was developed and its accuracy was determined. Measurements on a wide range of samples showed that the emittance of fibre-based materials vary significantly with wavelength, pulp type, observation angle, and moisture content. By applying measured quantitative values of the emittance, the thermal energy emitted by sack paper samples during mechanical deformation could be quantitatively calculated. The increase in thermal energy at the time of rupture was found to correlate well with the elastic share of the mechanical energy that was stored in the sample during its elongation.

In summary, the results of this work have facilitated the use of quantitative microparticle analysis and infrared thermography for pulp and paper applications. 

Many properties of fines and fillers are dependent on their size and shape. This review is on the literature on size and shape characterization of fines and fillers. It takes into account measurement techniques of particle width, length, equivalent diameter, area, and shape/morphology. The advantages and limitations of different methods are discussed. Measurement of other particles properties, e.g., optical, chemical or rheological, were not included in the review. Size and shape characterization methods can be roughly divided into gravimetric and non-gravimetric methods. Gravimetric measurements methods account for all particles in the sample, but give only indicative size and shape information. Non-gravimetric methods usually give more direct size and shape information, but only account for particles larger than the resolution of the instrument. Additionally, measuring both larger and smaller particles simultaneously is rarely possible. An implication is that current analysers fail to measure a larger share of the sample, for example fibrils, which have a high impact on product properties. Of the reviewed measurement techniques, flow microscopy had the highest potential. Based on instruments found in other application areas, possible developments for flow microscopes include multiwavelength illumination and sensors, fluorescent staining, and hydrodynamic focusing.

The influence of the refining process on the morphological changes of a chemical softwood pulp was investigated. The Voith LR40 industrial-like laboratory low consistency refiner was used, where the pulp was refined with five refining segments with differences in bar widths, groove widths, and cutting angles. The refined pulp was characterized with a fibre analyser with a spatial resolution of approximately 4 &mu;m/pixel and a wide size range. The fines fraction of the refined pulp was also characterized with an imaging flow cytometer with a spatial resolution of 0.33 &mu;m/pixel and a narrower size range. The fibre analyser measurements showed that the mean length, width, and aspect ratio of the fines decreased monotonically with accumulated refining energy. The imaging flow cytometer with its higher spatial resolution showed little change in fines morphology with accumulated refining energy. The morphology of the fines was more dependent on the applied specific refining energy than the design of the refining segment. However, a segment with much finer grooves and bars, initially designed for hardwood, gave significantly less fibre shortening, fines generation, external fibrillation, kink, and fines that were more fibrillar, compared to the other segments.Grant: The authors of this work would like to thank Prof. Lars Mattsson, Thomas Grahn, and Eva Ålander for fruitful discussions. The discussions with Lorentzen & Wettre were of great assistance. The financial support of the Swedish Energy Agency and the Önnesjöstiftelsen to the PhD project, and of the Fibre and Stock Design research programme to this evaluation study is gratefully acknowledged.

The influence of the refining process on the morphological changes of a chemical softwood pulp was investigated. An industrial-like laboratory refiner was used, where the pulp was refined with five refining segments with differences in bar widths, groove widths, and cutting angles. The refined pulp was characterized with a fibre analyser with a spatial resolution of approximately 4 µm/pixel and a wide size range. The fines fraction of the refined pulp was also characterized with an imaging flow cytometer with a spatial resolution of 0.33 µm/pixel and a narrower size range.

The fibre analyser measurements showed that the mean length, width, and aspect ratio of the fines decreased monotonically with accumulated refining energy. The imaging flow cytometer with its higher spatial resolution showed little change in fines morphology with accumulated refining energy.

The morphology of the fines was more dependent on the applied specific refining energy than the design of the refining segment. However, a segment with much finer grooves and bars, initially designed for hardwood, gave significantly less fibre shortening, fines generation, external fibrillation, kink, and fines that were more fibrillar, compared to the other segments. 

The pulp fines and mineral fillers in the fine fraction of a papermaking stock influence process conditions and sheet properties. The influence is largely dependent on the size and shape of the particles. Quantitative characterization of the size and shape of fines and fillers would aid in process control and prediction of product properties.  Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate and compare optical instruments which can be used to quantitatively characterize the fine fraction of a papermaking stock. The compared instruments were the Mastersizer2000 from Malvern, based on diffraction scattering of a laser beam, the ImageStream from Amnis, and the Fiber Tester and Fiber Tester Plus from ABB Lorentzen & Wettre. The last three instruments are all based on imaging of the particles and have spatial resolutions ranging from 0.33 µm to about 10 µm per pixel.

All instruments overestimated the size of calibration spheres with known sizes. In several cases, calibration particles that were smaller than the spatial resolution of the instrument were detected. In these cases, the relative measurement error was large, likely due to positioning and quantization errors. It is also suggested that the oversizing was partly due to dissimilar optical properties of the calibration particles, compared to the typical sample, and that better calibration materials for fines need to be developed.

For the image-based instruments, the relative share of fines and filler particles increased with as the size of the measured particles decreased. Thus, with higher spatial resolution, more particles were detected. However, the shape of the particle size distribution depended on the resolution and the field-of-view. The ImageStream resolved single PCC particles, which has not previously been done using flow microscopy. Due to its limited field-of-view, the ImageStream could not measure the largest fines, which were detected by the Fiber Tester and Fiber Tester Plus. While the Fiber Tester Plus did not resolve single PCC particles, it detected, due to its higher resolution, a higher share of smaller particles than the Fiber Tester. Overall, the ImageStream and the Fiber Tester Plus were found to be complementary.

The diffraction-based method struggled to measure small fines. It is proposed that small fines diffracted light insufficiently to be detected by the instrument. The obtained result was also highly sensitive to the choice of refractive index; a fact that some of the previous users apparently were not aware of.

In summary, image-based methods were found to perform better than the diffraction-based method when measuring on fines and mixtures of fines and fillers, while the highest resolution image-based instrument and the diffraction-based method were best when measuring on pure fillers.

Quality inspection of materials is one of modern applications of optical coherence tomography (OCT) featuring non-invasiveness and high speed required for in-production control of such materials as paper and alumina ceramics. Some of materials to be controlled are characterized by high scattering which can introduce distortions to the obtained OCT images, therefore additional interpretation can be required in order to evaluate material quality. In order to understand formation of OCT images of highly scattering materials samples and evaluate OCT potential for their quality inspection Monte Carlo simulations could be employed. This paper discusses application of Monte Carlo technique for simulation of OCT inspection of paper and alumina ceramics samples. Implementation of Monte Carlo simulation allows to evaluate the effect of OCT setup parameters and material properties on formation of the OCT-images. Multilayer models of paper and alumina ceramics structures are involved in the study.

The demands on in-process 3D monitoring in ceramic micromanufacturing industry require a high-precision, non-destructive, rapid and automated inspection technique for measuring the thickness of component layer, determining the shape and dimensions of the embedded 3D structures, and detecting the de-bonding, cracks, warping and deformation. One of the promising metrology techniques is optical coherence tomography (OCT). With the dedicated image processing algorithm and the industrial product data exchange standard, the model-based integration of OCT as a new metrology tool is demonstrated. As a generic standard for any product or manufacturing information, ISO 10303 STEP AP242 is employed for the measured data model. Unambiguous data representation is achieved by integrating additional modelling constraints. The proposed framework allows fully using the technical advantages of OCT to in-process 3D monitoring.

In order to ensure final product quality on machined components, manufacturing enterprises must measure and inspect the geometrical and dimensional characteristics of components before they go into higher-value assemblies. Commonly, the geometrical and dimensional measurement and inspection occurs every time at machine tool set-up, when a line is restarted or if the production process is changed. Production metrology and results from production measurements is used as input data for statistical process control and monitoring of production processes. The purpose of our research has been to firstly perform a state of the art analysis in the area of measurement planning applied in the automotive and aerospace industry. The output from the state of the art study has then been used to identify future trends and needs including a gap analysis. Then we used the analysis to explore and develop a model and methodology for measurement and controllability planning.   In this licentiate thesis we have explored the area of GMCP (Geometrical and dimensional Measurement and Controllability Planning). As a major result in this thesis a state of the art survey on GMCP is presented. Based on the state of the art study a theory and model framework for GMCP has been explored and a methodology and tool called QAM (Quality Assurance Matrix) is highlighted in this thesis. In the end of the thesis we present and discuss the present research results we have accomplished and in the final chapter we draw conclusions and outline the continued research within the SIMET-GICP project.

Quality is a pillar for success in every enterprise, and the absolute prerequisite for quality is measurement, but if measurement is actually going to improve quality, a process plan for performing the measurement must be properly defined. Increasingly, measurement process planning is performed semi-automatically in software, and since every software vendor has their own format for measurement process plans, this situation leads to interoperability costs. The eQuiPP (exchange of Quality Measurement Process Plans) specification is proposed as a standard which will reduce interoperability costs. The actual cost resulting from the lack of standardization is most likely enormous even though this cost is difficult to quantify. Standards like eQuiPP, properly defined and implemented, eliminate costs such as: • Information translation • Information quality degradation • Reduced perception of quality • Lack of freedom to choose best-in-class • Restraints on corporate or technical agility • Higher fees due to reduced competition • Reduced product and process innovation • Increased training and license fees • Unnecessary software development • Information access fees (e.g., PMI with CAD) • Information integrity and validation testing • Product delays and lost opportunities • High dependence on vendor viability • Excess support staff and equipment The primary scope of this new proposed standard is currently limited to an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) Schema quality measurement plan export format (XSD, extensible schema definition) for variable and attribute inspection plan processing.

The purpose of this paper is to present research results within the field of GMCP (Geometrical and dimensional Measurement and Controllability Planning) applied for complex products. GMCP is a prerequisite activity in modern manufacturing of complex products and components. It is attaining high interest and priority among the manufacturing industry management and this is due to the increased demands and focus on environmental sustainability, cost reduction, quality work and the aim towards zero defects in manufacturing. The necessity of a systematic, holistic and integrated engineering QAM (Quality Assurance Matrix) methodology tool is being presented and discussed. The QAM tool and model was originally an idea derived from Volvo CE in Eskilstuna and was initiated through an ISO 9000 quality revision requirement. The current ongoing SIMET (Swedish Industrial Metrology Forum) research has further developed the ideas and underlying theory with new principles and rules embedded in the model and matrix. The current solution has been developed and implemented in a Microsoft Excel application. However, the long term sustainable and rational solution will preferably be implemented in a database design environment.

The purpose of this article is to present research results performed within the field of geometrical inspection and control planning (GICP) applied for complex products. Geometrical and dimensional inspection and control planning are vitally important activities in modern manufacturing of complex products. These functions are interesting to manufacturers due to the demands and focus on quality work and the aim towards zero defects. The GICP model can be extended to a fully automatic process but more likely it will be implemented as a manual iterative and parallel process in the development and industrialization process of complex products. Applications for our new GICP information model will hopefully be implemented and used not only in large manufacturing plants but also in smaller companies that lack easy-to-use instructions and guidelines regarding geometrical inspection and control planning. It will also be instrumental academically, in the education of new industrial metrology engineers. In this article, our new systematic and holistic information model based on the ASTRAKAN modeling language is proposed and presented. The relation and integration of the quality assurance matrix and methodology (QAM) is also discussed and presented.

The Microsystems Technology manufacturing is expanding into other materials than the silicon. Polymers, metals and ceramics manufactured with micron feature sizes put new demands on metrology systems and a better education of instrument operators. In particular 3D-structured polymers require special care with regard to measurement forces for contacting probes of e.g. coordinate measuring machines. Ceramics tend to scatter light from the bulk, which can introduce off-sets from the true surface position in e.g. optical triangulation systems. Engineered metals tend to have comparatively rough surfaces compared to silicon and this imposes problems when a dimension of a micro feature is to be measured, as the roughness may introduce large local variations in measured size of a particular item. One of the most critical problems is associated with the high aspect ratio features present in micro systems manufacturing. This paper will high-light some examples of etrology problems found within the European 4M Multi Material Micro Manufacturing Network, discuss them, show new surprising results of optical profiling on high aspect ratio features and discuss possible solutions to get around some of the obstacles.

Micro manufacturing is steadily advancing from research labs to spin off companies. Products formerly manufactured by thin film technology using semiconductor processes are being replaced by more efficient full 3D micro manufacturing techniques. Materials have expanded to polymers, metals and ceramics. From being wafer based structures of tens of microns in width and a thickness of up to a micron, feature sizes are now a few microns wide and hundreds of microns deep. This puts very high demands on the geometrical dimensional and roughness measurement tools of the future. This paper gives a review of current metrology tools available for dimensional and surface characterization, and their limitations. It will also present the requirements of future instruments and discuss potential techniques to solve these issues.

The 4M-Multi Material Micro Manufacture Network of Excellence initiative is concentrating its efforts on non-silicon materials, i.e. metals, polymers and ceramics. For metrology of micro-components this material choice has a big impact on the possibility of making accurate measurements, although vision based metrology problems are already very obvious in high aspect ratio MEMS manufacturing[3]. This paper will report some specific findings related to the measurement of high aspect ratio microstructures of polymers and metals.

Surface roughness of tiny micro machined features is not easy to verify. The statistical variation of the surface itself can be the limiting factor that hampers tolerance verification. In this paper we have studied this effect and we also test the performance of 10 different surface profilers over a very well specified surface area. For this area 6 profilers yielded the same result within a standard deviation window of ±6%. For other areas, on top of narrow bars and in narrow and deep channels, a much larger spread in the Round Robin results were found.

The cost effective large scale production of reliable micro systems for mechanical and tribological applications requires a customized quality assurance. Equipment and procedures established for the characterization of materials and components on the macro scale very often cannot be successfully applied on the micro scale. Therefore in recent years customized techniques were developed for dimensional control, surface topography and roughness characterization as well as for microstructural analysis, mechanical and tribological testing. This chapter overviews the state-of-the-art of research and technological developments on these fields and thereby responds on the necessary fundamentals of metrology, the constraints of the used equipment and technologies as well as the particular problems arising from characterization of micro components made of ceramic materials.

Superhydrophobic surfaces have been fabricated in a continuous spray process, where an alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) wax is dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) and sprayed onto the substrate. The mass of extracted AKD from scCO2 has been investigated as well as the pressure, temperature, and flow of CO2 at the steady-state spray conditions. Several different substrates such as glass, aluminum, paper, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been successfully coated, and the superhydrophobic properties have been evaluated by measurement of water contact angle, water drop friction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and surface topography. The most efficient spray process, considering surface properties and mass of extracted AKD, is obtained at the lowest temperature investigated, 67 degrees C, and the highest pressure evaluated in this study, 25 MPa. We also show that the influence of preexpansion conditions (p, T) on the surface temperature at the selected spray distance (3 cm) is negligible by measurement with an infrared camera during spraying.

A thick 400-micron amorphous carbon nitride (a-CNX ) coating material was synthesized by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering technique was used to sputter a pure graphite target plate in reactive argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2 ) and acetylene (C2 H2 ) environment for depositing the omposite coating. Structural and chemical/elemental composition of the a-CNX  composite material was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The rootmean-square surface roughness (Sq ) and structure were estimated by atomic force microscopy. Mechanical properties such as hardness and Young’s modulus (Oliver–Pharr method) at room temperature were characterized by Vickers microindentation test. Operational temperature test of the deposited a-CNX  coating reveals that it can withstand up to 400 C without cracking. An inverted shaker test, based on central impedance method, was adopted to investigate the dynamic damping property of the coating material, and it was found that the first bending mode damping lossfactor of the reported a-CNX  coating is 0.015 ±  0.001 and corresponding loss modulus (Young’s modulus multiplied by lossfactor) is 0.234 ±  0.011 GPa.

Large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of ceramic micro devices based on tape stacking requires the development of inspection systems to perform high-resolution in-process quality control of embedded manufactured cavities, metal structures and defects.

In this work, alumina ceramic samples are evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) operating at 1.3μm wavelength and some dimensional data are obtained by dedicated image processing and segmentation. Layer thicknesses can be measured and laser-machined channels can be verified embedded at around 100μm depth. Moreover, detection of internal defects is enabled.

Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations are employed to analyze the abilities of OCT in imaging of the embedded channels. The light scattering mechanism is studied for the alumina ceramics, and different scattering origins and models are discussed. The scattering parameters required as input data for simulations are evaluated from the integrating sphere measurements of collimated and diffuse transmittance spectra using a reconstruction algorithm based on refined diffusion approximation approach.