The application of flexible materials is becoming increasingly widespread in precision manufacturing fields such as semiconductors, display panels, and medical devices. Whether it is OLED flexible screens, biofilms, or polymer coatings in wearable devices, how to accurately measure the surface morphology of these easily deformed and damaged materials has always been a focus of engineers' attention. Well then,Imported optical profiler manufacturerCan the provided equipment be competent for measuring flexible materials? This article will provide a detailed explanation from three perspectives: technical principles, practical cases, and supporting solutions.
Compared with traditional hard materials such as silicon wafers and glass, flexible materials such as polyimide, PET film, and soft polymers have three significant characteristics: the surface is easily damaged by external forces, it may exhibit slight bending or wrinkling, and it is more sensitive to environmental vibrations. Traditional contact profilometers (such as step meters) require a probe to scratch the surface of the material, which can easily leave scratches or cause deformation on soft surfaces. Therefore, imported optical profilometer manufacturers generally adopt non-contact optical measurement technology to avoid physical damage from the source.
Taking the KLA Profilm3D white light interference profilometer, represented by Younikon Technology Co., Ltd. (Yiying Technology), as an example, the device adopts two technical modes: vertical interference scanning (WLI) and phase interference (PSI). Its working principle is to split white light into two beams, one beam shining on the surface of the sample and the other beam projected onto a reference mirror. The two reflected beams form interference fringes. By analyzing the changes in stripes, the relative heights of each point on the sample surface can be calculated, ultimately generating three-dimensional morphology data.
Key data support: The vertical resolution of Profilm3D can reach sub nanometer level (measured repeatability accuracy: 1.0nm in WLI mode, 0.1nm in PSI mode), and the step height accuracy is 0.7%. This means that for flexible thin film coatings with a thickness of only a few tens of nanometers, the device can also clearly distinguish their surface undulations. Meanwhile, due to the use of non-contact measurement, even when facing soft polymers or biological tissues, it will not cause any deformation or damage.
In real industrial scenarios, equipment from imported optical profilometer manufacturers has been widely used for flexible material detection. For example, a certain display panel company uses Profilm3D to measure the surface roughness of PI film (polyimide) on flexible OLED substrates. Through software analysis, parameters such as Ra (arithmetic mean deviation of contour) and Rq (root mean square roughness) can be quickly obtained in just a few seconds. Another case comes from the medical device industry: the thickness of the drug coating on the surface of the heart stent is about 2-5 microns, and the coating material is relatively soft. By utilizing the PSI high-precision mode of Profilm3D, the step height and edge contour of the coating area can be obtained in one go, providing a direct basis for process optimization.
Although optical profilometers themselves have non-contact advantages, the laboratory environment is equally critical to ensure data repeatability and accuracy in flexible material measurements. Flexible materials are more sensitive to vibration - even small ground shaking can cause interference fringes to shake, resulting in measurement results being biased. Therefore, manufacturers of imported optical profilometers usually recommend users to use high-performance vibration reduction systems. The HERZ AVI-200 series active shock absorber provided by Younikon Technology Co., Ltd. (Yiying Technology) is designed specifically for precision instruments such as profilometers and microscopes. Its active isolation range is 1-200Hz, the passive isolation range exceeds 200Hz, the transmission rate is better than -35dB above 10Hz, and the response time is only 5-20 milliseconds. It can effectively eliminate broadband vibrations from the ground, ensuring that the profilometer obtains stable interference signals when measuring soft and thin samples.
If you plan to purchase equipment for measuring flexible materials, you can pay attention to the following parameters: first, vertical resolution, recommended to be better than 0.5nm to distinguish ultra-thin coatings; The second is the sample stage, preferably equipped with an automatic XY platform for convenient multi-point positioning measurement; The third is software functionality, which should support multiple analysis modes such as roughness, step height, curvature, etc. As a professional representative of imported optical profilometer manufacturers, Younikon Technology Co., Ltd. (Yiying Technology) provides full process services from equipment selection, free sample testing to installation training. You can access its profilometer product page（https://www.unicorn-tech.com/product/list-160.html）View detailed specifications of KLA Profilm3D or contact the technical team for actual sample testing.
In summary, imported optical profilometer manufacturers fully possess the ability to adapt to flexible material measurements. By using non-contact optical techniques such as white light interference, combined with high-precision vibration reduction tables and environmental control, it is possible to perform nanoscale precision three-dimensional morphology analysis on easily damaged materials such as OLED films, biological coatings, and soft polymers. Choosing the right equipment solution, surface quality control of flexible materials will no longer be a challenge.
About Us: Younikon Technology Co., Ltd. (Yiying Technology) has been focusing on precision thin film measurement and laboratory environment optimization since its establishment, and is the general agent of Filmetrics film thickness gauge in China. We are committed to providing professional products and attentive services to safeguard your precision instruments. For more information on profilometers or vibration reduction systems, please visit our official websitehttps://www.unicorn-tech.com/Or call the service hotline at 400-186-8882.
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