Technology for Polarization Measurement

150 AT Birefringence Measurement System

The 150AT is the work horse of the Exicor® birefringence measurement system family of products.  This system is versatile enough to excel in both production floor and R&D lab environments.  This model is widely used in industry to measure components such as lithography reticules, DVD blanks, plastic films, lens blanks, laser crystals, cell phone display windows, injection molded parts, and many others.   The bench top design and intuitive automated scanning software make this product the best choice for day-in-day-out evaluation of small parts (up to 150 mm x 150 mm).

With two measurement range options available to choose from (High Sensitivity and Extended Range), the system is well suited to address the demanding requirements of your application.  The optional high speed scanning package makes high spatial resolution scans (<1 mm grid spacing) practical.  The system can also add an optional manual or automated tilt stage to extend its evaluation into non-normal access measurement of thin samples and to calculate specific parameters (such as Rth).

Features:

  • Automated XY stage
  • 2D and 3D graphical representation of birefringence parameters
  • Bench top design
  • Flexible stage design for adding custom parts holders
  • Advanced data analysis features included standard in user interface

 

 SPECIFICATIONS

Retardation Range: 0.005 to 300+ nm
Retardation Resolution /
Repeatability1, 2:
0.001 nm / ± 0.015 nm
Angular Resolution /
Repeatability1:
0.01º / ± 0.07°
Measurement Rate / Time3: up to 100 pps /
sample size dependent
Size: 910 mm (H) x 415 mm (W) x 700 mm (D)
Light Source Wavelength4: Various (632.8 nm standard)
Measurement Spot Diameter5: Between 1 mm and 3 mm native
(can be as low as 50 µm)
Modulation Technique / Frequency: PEMLabsTM Photoelastic Modulator
50 kHz or 50/60 kHz
Demodulation Analysis Technique: Hinds Instruments SignalocTM
Lock-in Amplifier or Wave Form
Capture Card
Measurement Units: nm (retardation), ° (angle)

1 Typical performance at 5 nm retardation

2 Up to 1.5 nm, 1% thereafter

3 Maximum data collection speed. Sample XY scan time dependent on stage movement parameters.

4 Custom wavelengths available

5Spot sizes of less that 1 mm native require optional high resolution detector module

OPTIONS:

  • Additional Polarization Parameters
  • Hinds Scan in Motion TM (High Speed Scanning)
  • Spectroscopic and RGB measurements
  • Custom wavelengths (VIS, NIR)
  • Manual and automated tilt stages
  • Custom Sample holders
  • Custom Software (UI or DLL)
  • Stress Estimation Calculations

FURTHER READING:

Birefringence and piezo-Raman analysis of single crystal CVD diamond and effects on Raman laser performance, Hadiya Jasbeer, Robert J. Williams, Ondrej Kitzler, Aaron McKay, Soumya Sarang, Jipeng Lin, and Richard P. Mildren, OSA Publishing, JOSA B, Vol. 33, Issue 3, Page B56 (2016)

Birefringence characterization of injection molded microplates, Achyut Adhikari, Anand Asundi, Proceedings Volume 9302, International Conference on Experimental Mechanics 2014; 93022Q (2015)

Birefringent properties of cyclic block copolymers and low-retardation-film development, Weijun Zhou, Charles Diehl, Dan Murray, Kurt A. Koppi, Stephen Hahn, Shin-Tson Wu, Journal of the SID, 18/1, 2010


Contact us for more information about the Exicor 150AT and to see how Hinds Instruments works with our customers to provide unsurpassed birefringence measurement metrology.