Web Thickness Measurements and Polymer Film Thickness Measurements

Filmetrics^® systems are widely used in the polymer films community to measure the thickness of polymer films and coatings, and we have products specially designed for polymer film web inspection applications.

Polymer Film Web Thickness Inspection Applications

There are multiple points in plastic films manufacturing where coating thickness is critical to quality. These include: total film thickness (up to 1mm), Coextrusion sub-layer thickness, and the thickness of coatings on a film web. In the particular case of coatings on PET, film thickness measurement can be accomplished with our F20-UV. It can measure very thin layers (~10 nm) and even energetic plasma surface treatments. Our standard F20 can measure ubiquitous coatings such as hardcoats in the 0.05 to 50µm range.

We have an extensive refractive index database for a range of polymer films including PET, polycarbonate, cellulosics, and polyolefins, as well as more exotic materials such as conductive polymers.

Each of these polymer film applications offers a unique set of challenges, and Filmetrics has developed the software, hardware, and applications knowledge to deliver the right web thickness and polymer film thickness measurement solution.

For web inspection and general polymer film measurement, contact our thin-film experts.

Filmetrics offers free trial measurements - results are typically available in 1-2 days.

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Polymer Film Thickness Measurements

Polymer film thickness was measured using our F20 with the 200µm small-spot fiber. Thickness measurements of the extruded plastic films of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were measured real time with the inline setup and the tabletop setup. For tabletop measurements, the SS-3 standard stage was used to make single, spot-to-spot measurements. For the inline measurements, a lens and RKM were used to make measurements real time as the web was moving. With the use of our extensive refractive index database, the PVC thickness was easily measured. The F20 can also be used to measure thicknesses of co-extruded films as well as coating thicknesses on various materials such as PET.

Measurement Set Up

3 spot frame probe for inline measurements

Recipe Used

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Measurement Result

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Amorphous & Polysilicon
Measure thickness, crystallinity, and n and k of all forms of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon.
Dielectric Films
Filmetrics stocks instruments that measure the thousands of dielectric thin films used throughout industry.

CVD, dielectrics, barrier, PECVD, passivation, insulator, protection, Al2O3, CoO, ZnO, MoO, TiO2, Cr2O3, Nb2O5
Hardcoat Thickness
Filmetrics systems are used widely in the automotive industry to verify hardcoat and primer thickness.

Acrylic, Automotive industry, Chemical resistance, Clear coating, Decorative coating, Hardcoat, Eyewear, Face shield, Hardcoat, Hardness, Interpenetration Layer, Marring, Ophthalmic lens, Optical quality, Plastic lens, Polycarbonate, Polyester, Siloxane, Primer, Protective film, Scratch resistant, Screen protection, Surface finish, Surface protection, Thermal cure, Top coating, Touch screen, UV coating, UV cure
IC Failure Analysis
The F3-sX is used throughout the chip making industry to measure backside thinning of silicon.

Failure Analysis, FA, Silicon, Si, Integrated circuit, IC, Polishing, Backside failure analysis, Silicon thinning
ITO & Other TCOs
Proprietary analysis algorithms allow one-click measurement of TCO thickness, index, and k.

Indium tin oxide, ITO, tin-doped indium oxide, Transparent conductive oxide, TCO, Display, Front contact, Transparent Electrode, LED, LCD, Solar, Fluorine-doped tin oxide, FTO, TEC, TEC glass, Aluminum zinc oxide, AZO, Aluminum-doped zinc oxide, Zinc oxide, iZO, Indium zinc oxide, IZO, zinc-doped indium oxide
Medical Devices
Measure thickness of angioplasty balloons, stent and implant coatings, and many others.

Stents, drug-coated stents, Drug-coating, Balloons, Angioplasty, Parylene, Microfluidic device, Air gap, Catheter, Membranes
Metal Thickness
Measure thickness, index, and k of metal films up to 50nm, or thickness, sheet resistance, and resistivity of conductive films and samples

Metallized, Metallization, Foils, Stents, Mirrors, Steel, Stainless Steel, Gold, Nickel, Aluminium, Silver, Cobalt, Zinc, Molybdenum, Titanium, Chrome, Chromium, Niobium, Tungsten, Gallium, Germanium
Microfluidics
3-dimensional surface profile measurements to measure microfluidic channels.

microfluidics, lab on a chip, medical, synthesis, biomedical
OLEDs
Measure thickness and index of NPB, AlQ3, PEDOT, P3HT, soluble Teflons, etc…

PLED, AMOLED, Hole Transport (HT), Hole Injection Layer (HIL), Host Materials, anode, cathode, Alq3, NPB, phenylene vinylene, carbazole, thiophene, aniline, styrenesulfonate, phthalocyanine, naphthalene, fluorene, lithium, silver, ITO, calcium
Ophthalmic Coatings
Use the F10-AR to measure reflectance and color, as well as AR and hardcoat layer thicknesses.

eyeglasses, HC, hardcoat, scratch resistant, AR, anti-reflection, reflectance, UV curable, hydrophillic, polycarbonate, high index, CR39, MR-6, MR-7, Trivex
Optical Coatings & Filters
Filmetrics powerful measurement algorithms can easily measure multilayer dielectric film stacks.

optical, coatings, multi layer, multilayer, dielectric, stack, glass, band-pass, F10-RT, filter, transmittance
Parylene Coatings
Simply set your parylene-coated sample on the stage of the F3-CS to measure its thickness!

Conformal
Photoresist
We’ve measured dozens of different resists, and can generate index files for any resist you use.

SU-8, resist, Photoresist, PR, AZ, AZP, ZEP, positive, negative, g-line, i-line, KrF, PMMA, FEP, GRX, KMPR
Porous Silicon
Measure thickness, porosity, refractive index, and k of your porous silicon films.
Process Films
Filmetrics offers a full range of products for measuring semiconductor process films.
Refractive Index & k
Measure refractive index and extinction coefficient over wavelengths as wide as 190-1700nm.

n & k, complex, real, imaginary, refractive index, absorption, extinction coefficient, indices, Kramers-Kronig, optical dispersion, dielectric, Lorentz, Cauchy, photoresist, anomalous dispersion, path length
Silicon Wafers & Membranes
We offer tabletop, mapping, and production systems for measuring silicon up to 2mm thick.
Solar Applications
Measure CdTe, CdS, CIGS, amorphous-Si, TCOs, anti-reflection (AR) layers, and more...

Copper indium gallium diselenide, CIGS, Cadmium telluride, CdTe, Cad tel, Amorphous silicon, Amorphous Si, a-Si, Cadmium sulfide, CdS, window layer, buffer layer, Thin-film photovoltaic, Thin-film PV, TFPV, photovoltaics, Solar, Solar cells, Inline, In-situ, Roll-to-roll, R2R, Evaporation, Sputtering, CVD, MOCVD, PECVD, Transparent conductive oxide, TCO, Indium tin oxide, ITO, tin-doped indium oxide
Semiconductor Teaching Labs
More than fifty Filmetrics F20s have been delivered for use in university teaching labs.
Surface Roughness & Finish
3-dimensional surface profile measurements to measure surface roughness.

surface, roughness, optical profile, profilometer, finish, roughness measurement, polish, lapping, metal, scan
Web Coatings
Filmetrics systems are widely used in the polymer-films community to measure thickness in-line.

Roll to roll, Roll measurements, Roll systems, Rolling substrate, Roll fed, Roll web, Reel to reel , R2R, Web coater, Autoweb, In-line, In-line monitor, Online thickness, Line monitoring system, Precision measuring tools, Automatic, Feeding, Production, Multipoint, High speed