Near-Infrared (NIR) Coating Thickness Gauge for the Web Coating Industry

This technology measures dried finished coatings and provides predictive measurement of wet coatings. It helps identify process deviations caused by the coating head or oven in advance, significantly reducing waste caused by uneven thickness. Compared with radiation-based thickness gauges, the NIR solution eliminates the need for radiation protection and periodic calibration, making it ideal for high-volume, continuous production scenarios such as coating, film, lithium battery, and packaging tape manufacturing.

     X-ray Thickness Measurement Technology Empowers PI Film Production with Non-Contact, High-Precision Inline Thickness Control

Recently, X-ray inline thickness measurement solutions have achieved scaled implementation on polyimide (PI film, also known as "golden film") production lines. This effectively resolves the thickness uniformity control challenges of high-end PI film, empowering industries such as flexible electronics, semiconductors, and new energy materials to improve quality and efficiency.

    PI film is widely used in flexible circuit boards, chip packaging, displays, and power batteries due to its excellent high/low-temperature resistance, high insulation, and high mechanical strength. Thickness accuracy directly determines the insulation performance and reliability of the final product. Micron-level thickness variations can degrade device performance and lead to product scrapping. Traditional offline sampling inspection has lag issues, making it difficult to capture thickness fluctuations on high-speed production lines in real time. Contact measurement can easily cause compression damage, scratches, and wrinkles to ultra-thin PI films, restricting yield improvements for high-grade PI films.

    X-ray thickness measurement utilizes non-contact, non-destructive testing principles. It calculates thickness values based on the energy attenuation of X-rays penetrating the film. It is adaptable to high-speed roll-to-roll continuous production of PI films and can stably measure ultra-thin, multi-layer, and composite PI films without interference from material temperature or surface texture. It enables full-width scanning, real-time thickness profile output, and automatic audible and visual alarms for thickness range. The data supports storage and traceability, and can also be integrated with the production line's MES (Manufacturing Execution System) for closed-loop process control.

    According to field application feedback, the X-ray inline thickness measurement system ensures zero contact with the film surface throughout the process, eliminating quality control blind spots caused by manual sampling. It provides timely feedback on process fluctuations in extrusion, casting, and stretching processes, reduces waste caused by uneven thickness, helps enterprises stabilize batch consistency, and provides reliable metrology support for the domestic substitution of high-end PI films. Industry insiders indicate that with the rapid development of the flexible electronics industry, high-precision inline thickness measurement will become standard for PI film production lines, driving the transformation of new materials manufacturing from "post-production sampling" to "real-time full inspection."