Key features
Overview
System Overview.
The system looks at the electrical properties of thin film samples such as conductive inks and adhesives. A slide rack holds 20 microscope slides in position secured by a magnetic cover plate. Each slide is prepared in a separate system designed by Labman which dispenses sample onto the glass slide and uses a die to create a thin film, less than 1mm thick. Prepared samples are loaded into the slide rack and the system, where a barcode reader logs each slide and stores data against a unique barcode. The slides are presented to a specular reflective laser profilometer, which measures the thickness of films to +/- 25 microns. The profilometer is tuned such that it can measure the thickness of both opaque and transparent samples, using the glass slide as a baseline to improve accuracy per sample. A 4 point resistivity probe measures the current which can be passed through the sample at a specific voltage. Sheet resistance (ohms per square) is measured by the system and knowing the thickness of the sample, bulk resistivity can be calculated. The slide rack is driven by an XY ball screw linear stage, for high accuracy and repeatability. The resistivity probe is lowered by an electric Z axis with a floating bearing setup to prevent damage to the slide and probe.