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In the watch and jewellery industry new
types of noble metal alloys are desired for new colours. This means, new
polishing methods and compositions are needed.
Polishing Method
Quality
Profilometer measurements become meaningless
on samples with a high quality surface finish. The AFM helps to quantify the
quality of the polishing method and the easyScan from NanoSurf can be used to characterise such samples.
Figure 1. Polished stainless steel with defect. 20x20µm image, z-range:
100nm
Polished Surface
The image shows a mechanically polished
stainless steel surface measured with AFM. The surface roughness is below 5 nm.
A polishing defect is visible. Here a diamond grain from the polishing paste
becomes embedded in the metal.
The AFM measurement was done in "Dynamic
Force" operating mode. |