UK-based Nightingale-EOS has launched its first product, the n-Gauge laser metrology tool for characterising the thickness and material properties of thin film coatings on a wide range of devices, such as medical implants, microengineered parts, silicon wafers, solar cells, displays, or optical coatings. The tool utilises the beam profile reflectometry (BPR) technique, which has been successfully used in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing for many years. The n-Gauge makes this technology available in a smaller form-factor, at lower cost, and with more capability than ever before.
The n-Gauge is a compact self-contained unit, containing no moving parts, that sits on top of a standard optical microscope, replacing its standard illumination module and eyepiece assembly. An Ethernet cable connects the tool to an external computer, which provides a simple-to-use graphical user interface and the data analysis capability to make sophisticated measurements of the properties of any films or coatings present on a sample.