New Geometrical Filtration for Ultra-Precision and Micro/Nano Manufactured Products

In the last decade, the design and fabrication of high value, micro- and nanoscale devices (in photonics, telecommunication, aerospace, automotive, defence, biotech, medical and consumer applications) has gradually moved from academic research to industrial manufacturing sectors. Enabling technologies such as computing design technology and ultra-precision and micro/nano- manufacturing capabilities have facilitated the design of these components. However, a fundamental barrier to achieving the potential growth of these products is in providing the metrological infrastructure to measure and characterise these components with the required accuracy so that their manufacturing quality can be controlled. Enterprises that achieve high levels of quality control will secure a larger market share.This proposed two-year project attempts to provide tools to enable the geometrical characterisation of these ultra precision and micro/nano-scale products. The project will develop novel non-linear geometrical filtration techniques. It will focus on robust approaches for micro/nano geometrical features that cope with deterministic engineered surface features/structures, create fast accurate algorithms (implementation in the manufacture context) and reference algorithms (for establishing traceability to national metrology standards) for non-linear filtration, together with best practice guidance for their implementation and use.The consortium for the proposed project is comprised of the Surface Metrology Group (SMG) at the University of Huddersfield, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL, the UK's national metrology institute) and the instrumentation manufacturer Taylor Hobson Limited (TH). The three partners together address the requirements for innovation, development of the national measurement infrastructure, with emphasis on validated algorithms and software, and industrial relevance and applicability. The research will enable UK industry to establish new quality control systems for high-tech products and support the mission of the government for high-added value manufacture: 60% shorter throughput time; 60% shorter time to market and 50% reduction in product costs.