ABSTRACT
Estimating measurement uncertainty with optical surface topography instruments is difficult and is still an open area of research. In practice, many instrument users resort to simple instrument performance verification tests and rarely quote uncertainties with surface texture parameters. This chapter presents one method to estimate uncertainty that is being developed in international specification standards. The method relies on the determination of a number of (standardized) metrological characteristics for the instrument in question. The metrological characteristics are chosen so that some combination of them can be used in each measurement scenario and the associated measurement uncertainties can be estimated. The chapter summarizes the current position in the relevant standard committee, presents the background to uncertainty estimation, discusses uncertainty estimation in surface texture characterization, and presents the metrological characteristics and how to determine them. Examples are then given for a coherence scanning interferometer.
