2019 SVC TechCon

Sessions Speakers Exhibitors Press Releases Floor Plan Buzz

Marking Shoulders for Self-Driving Large Srea Coaters (Room Room 104-C)

30 Apr 19
11:20 AM - 11:40 AM

Tracks: Enabling Sustainability — NexGen Tech for Coatings, Surface Engineering and Smart Manufacturing

Large area coaters consist of many thin film deposition devices. These are optimized for high deposition rate but not necessarily for stable production. During a deposition campaign, properties of the coater may change in time and decisions have to be made adapting coater parameters to the current state of the produced coating. It is desirable to develop closed-loop solutions where coater parameters are automatically adjusted by machine-based decisions in real time, keeping the production on target as close and as long as possible. One important step in direction of this goal is accurate thickness information about every layer of the thin film stack. Coupling non-contact optical and electrical measurements with physical modelling is the method of choice for real-time thin film analysis, providing the information needed for closed-loop systems. After an introduction into the principle of this technique the requirements for successful application are discussed. Optical measurements must be of high quality and speed for thickness profiling. Data analysis must be able to keep up with production in real time, and suitable interfaces to the deposition controllers have to be realized.