Digital holographic microscopy for 3D surface characterization of polymeric nanocomposites

The aim of this paper is to introduce digital holographic microscopy (DHM) as a non-contact, inexpensive, and non-abrasive method for 3D surface characterization of polymeric nanocomposites. A common-path and vibration-immune Mirau system with a microsphere-assisted arrangement is utilized to increase the lateral resolution of the images. The characterization is performed through the measurement of roughness parameters of the surfaces, which are derived from the recorded holograms. Pure poly(triazole-amide-imide) (PTAI) and PTAI nanocomposite reinforeced with surface modified TiO₂ nanoparticles (MN-TiO₂) are used and compared. The experimental results show the potential of the presented method to serve as an alternative for expensive surface measurement devices such as stylus profiler and atomic force microscope (AFM) for polymeric surface characterization.