1.1 The purpose ofthis test method is to define a method foranalyzing the surface texture of the above-mentioned compo-nents using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). STM is anoncontact method of surface profiling that can measurethree-dimensional surface features in the nanometer size range,which can then be used to represent the surface texture or toprovide figures ofmerit. Application ofthis test method, wheresurface texture is used as a selection criterion, is expected toyield comparable data among different components tested.
