Thin Films and Coatings

2015.03.31 Update

Thin Films and Coatings

Thin films and coatings are used or applied to an almost limitless range of applications to provide a specific performance characteristic for a broad range of industrial products. These include coatings that provide antistatic properties, corrosion resistance, reduce wear, and promote adhesion; as well as thin films for optical devices, mirrors, semiconductor devices, magnetic media, and food wrap.

Thin film coatings on glass (XPS, AES, TOF-SIMS, D-SIMS)

Architectural glass, lenses, mirrors, and many other products are coated to provide specific optical properties. These coatings are often a stack of thin layers that can be characterized using PHI's surface analysis instruments to verify the composition of the layers, detect contaminants, and estimate layer thickness.

Thin Films and Coatings Surface Analysis

Fig. 1: XPS sputter depth profile of an architectural glass coating obtained using 2 kV argon ions and Zalar rotation to enhance depth resolution.