the noise was measured with Scope and I used the smallest possible ground path with a pogo pin ground of the scope.
Attached is the noise image from scope.
the buck gets input from the SMPS which is 18V and I isolated the buck and measured directly at the AC-DC output and that 18V is clean.
In the design the resistor which sets the switching frequency of the buck is set to 100k ohm and that makes the buck at 480KHz. When i tried different resistor values, then the noise pattern changes.
there is nothing else in the system switching at this frequency.
Those high frequency spikes are likely still picked up through the air. The noise without those, the ripple is ~20mV.
You should make some specifications, what's acceptable and what's not. It always will be there, maybe you will not be able to measure it with your equipment. A few questions. Where does this 18V go, is it connected to any other sensitive circuits? Is it connected to a wire? If so, how much radiated noise does this cause, is it below the required legal limits, and the functional limits for your circuit? Did you measure it under load, does this change depending on your load?
What I'm trying to tell is, that seeing noise does not necessarily mean the circuit need to change.