Hardcoat Thickness Measurements

Filmetrics^® systems are used widely in the automotive and aviation industries for thickness measurement of hardcoats and other protective films. Quality controlled hard coat films are commonly found on many plastic parts in the industry. The F10-HC hardcoat thickness measurement instrument is specially designed for the curved surfaces and multiple layers (e.g., primer and hardcoat) encountered in these applications.

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Automotive Headlamp Hardcoat and Anti-fog Applications

There are multiple points in automotive headlamp-assembly manufacturing where coating thickness is critical to quality. The thickness of the outer hardcoat layers and inner anti-fog layers on polycarbonate lenses and the base coat on reflectors are all important. Each of these applications offers a unique set of challenges and Filmetrics has developed the software, hardware, and applications knowledge to deliver the right hardcoat thickness measurement solution.

For hardcoat application information, please contact one of our thin-film experts.

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

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Hardcoat Thickness Measurement Example

Reflectance data was collected using our F10-ARc anti-reflection coating system with optional HC upgrade which allows thickness measurements. This instrument uses an optical contact probe which inherently reduces the effect of backside reflections.
The surface of the acrylic sheet is placed on the contact probe. The spectral data is collected and then automatically analyzed by FILMeasure to determine the coating thickness. There was a coating of primer and hardcoat with very similar refractive indices on this particular acrylic sheet.

Measurement Set Up

F10-ARc

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