IN-SITU X-RAY DETECTOR

IN-SITU MONITORING OF CRITICAL FILM PROPERTIES WOULD GREATLY ENHANCE PROCESS CONTROL OF THIN FILM COATING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) AND PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (PVD). ATM, WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PROPOSES TO INCORPORATE A POSITION SENSITIVE FIBER OPTIC X-RAY SCINTILLATION DETECTOR (PSSD) FOR REAL TIME X-RAY ANALYSIS OF CHEMICALLY VAPOR DEPOSITED METALLIC FILMS. THIS DEVICE, DEVELOPED AT PENN STATE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING, CAN BE USED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MEASURE SEVERAL CRITICAL FILM PARAMETERS SUCH AS THICKNESS, CRYSTAL STRUCTURE, CRYSTAL PERFECTION, PREFERRED ORIENTATION, AND RESIDUAL STRESS. COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL X-RAY DETECTORS, THE PSSD SYSTEM IS VERY COMPACT, REQUIRES NO SCANNING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAS VERY RAPID SAMPLING TIME (LESS THAN 1 SECOND). ALL THESE ATTRIBUTES MAKE IT IDEALLY SUITED FOR REAL TIME ANALYSIS OF THIN FILM GROWTH. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WOULD FIRST DEVELOP A METHOD FOR INCORPORATING THE PSSD DEVICE INTO BOTH BATCH AND CONTINUOUS CVD OPERATIONS DEVELOPED AT ATM FOR DOD APPLICATIONS, AND SECONDLY INVESTIGATE ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN A SERIES OF COATING EXPERIMENTS. COMPLETION OF THIS EFFORT WIL ENABLE A PHASE 11 EFFORT FOR INCORPORATING THE PSSD X-RAY MONITOR INTO CVD AND PVD COATING MANUFACTURING PROCESSES FOR FEEDBACK PROCESS CONTROL. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - A REASONABLY PRICED IN-SITU X-RAY MONITORING DEVICE WOULD BE APPLICABLE TO MANY ACTIVE FEED-BACK LOOPS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF OTHER COATING PROCESSES: MELT-SPRAY, SOLUTION-SPRAY, ELECTROLESS, ELECTROLYTIC, ETC. SUCH A DEVICE COULD ALSO BE USED AS AN IN-LINE NON-DESTRUCTIVE QUALITY CONTROL TOOL.