Challenges and possibilities in non-contact in- and offline characteriza- tion of
conductive thin films
Marcus Klein, Richard Kupke, Stephan Adam
SURAGUS GmbH – Sensors and Instruments
Corresponding author: marcu
Keywords:
Thin layer characterization, TCO, transparent conductive materials, non-contact
electrical charac- terization, defect detection
Advanced deposition, doping and annealing processes enable the enhancement of the sheet
resistance, optical transparency to cost ration. Although many TCO, nano-wire films, metal meshes
and metal coatings are well established, increasing coating speed, higher deposition rates and lower
temperature as well as and low pres- sures processes highly affect the layer uniformity,
stoichiometry of the layer and crystallinity. All these pa- rameters have a high impact on the
electrical and optical characteristic that determine the performance of TCM films.
Novel inline measurement technology is required to adapt to these challenges and to assure accurate
and reli- able measurements of the electrical and optical properties even at high production speed.
Therefore, non-con- tact sensors for inline monitoring and detailed offline imaging have been
developed. Especially the stable measurement of high ohmic samples is challenging and requires
specific adaption of the sensor concept.
Examples of challenging inline measurements and non-destructive offline coating analysis are
presented and discussed. A special focus is put on the analysis, discussion and resolution of edge
effect phenomena and other artifacts of the measurement.
IND 5
-84-
