Abstract
This paper describes an atomic force microscope (AFM)-based instrument for measuring the nanoscale cutting edge profiles of diamond cutting tools. The instrument consists of a combined AFM unit and an optical sensor to align the AFM tip with the top of the diamond cutting tool edge over a submicron range. In the optical sensor, a aser beam is emitted from a laser diode along the Y-axis and focused to a small beam spot with a diameter of approximately $10{\mu}m$ at the beam waist, which is then received by a photodiode. The top of the tool edge is first brought into the center of the beam waist by adjusting it in the X-Z-plane while monitoring the variation in the photodiode output. The cutting tool is then withdrawn and its top edge position at the beam center is recorded. The AFM tip can also be positioned at the beam center in a similar manner to align it with the top of the cutting edge. To reduce electronic noise interference on the photodiode output and thereby enhance the alignment accuracy, a technique is applied that can modulate the photodiode output to an AC signal by driving the laser diode with a sinusoidal current. Alignment experiments and edge profile measurements of a diamond cutting tool were carried out to verify the performance of the proposed system.