Surface metrology

Surface metrology is like looking at the bumps and ridges on a potato chip to see if it's crunchy or not. Just like how we use our eyes to see the details on a potato chip, scientists use fancy machines to measure the details on the surface of objects.

These machines use tiny probes or lasers to scan over the surface of an object and measure how bumpy or smooth it is. They can measure things like the height of bumps or the depth of valleys on a surface.

Scientists use surface metrology to study all kinds of objects, from tiny computer chips to giant airplane wings. They use their measurements to figure out things like how smooth a surface needs to be for a certain application or how to make objects that fit together perfectly. It's like a secret code that helps us make things just right.