THIME

Thinfilm measurements on organic photovoltaic layers

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Printing and other large-area roll-to-roll (R2R)-compatible processes present exciting opportunities for cost-efficient mass manufacturing of electronics, among other functionalities, on large-area and flexible substrates such as plastic, paper and fabrics. In particular, thin film Organic Photovolactics (OPV) are generating a buzz in the industry. Printing the active components of a PV system onto flexible substrates means that solar cells could be incorporated onto a host of everyday objects, offing advantages in terms of weight, flexibility and low-cost production methods. A major challenge for the manufacture of polymer and printed electronics is the ability to control the layer properties more precisely than with conventional colour printing. The performance of OPVs is strongly affected by the thickness and uniformity of the needed layers. Accurate information about the thickness of the thin films being deposited would prevent the production of large volumes of materials that do not perform to the standards that they should. Without online thin film thickness measurements the real thickness of the R2R deposited layer can be measured only after the deposition process. The industry is in need of an online quality control method for thin film thickness on selected layers, which is vital for improved high quality, high volume, cost-effective production of such printed and large area electronics (OLAE) devices. The THIME project will develop a novel optical instrument for the on-line measurement of thin film thickness during the R2R manufacturing of these devices, which will be capable of measuring different OPV layers of differing characteristics values: thickness, refractive index, transparency and surface smoothness, and suited to a moving process (up to 10m/min) and is most likely not always in stable position in Z direction. No such detection method is available in the market and THIME will be a breakthrough for advancing the EU industry.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Optical technology for thin-film thickness

Descrizione progetto (Article)

A major challenge for manufacturing polymer solar cells is the ability to precisely control the layer properties, such as layer thickness. Currently used methods fall short of monitoring thickness before the layer deposition process.

The EU-funded 'Thinfilm measurements on organic photovoltaic layers' (http://www.thime.eu/ (THIME)) project aims to develop a novel optical instrument for online measuring of thin-film thickness during roll-to-roll (R2R) processing. This novel method will prevent the production of large volumes of materials that do not fit to high-quality standards of organic electronic devices.

THIME's prototype will represent a stairway to this breakthrough, since a range of characteristic values is determined in real time, thus ensuring high-quality processing. This includes layer thickness, refractive index, transparency and surface smoothness.

Project partners are exploring the capabilities of ellipsometry for characterising OPV layer thickness at nanometre-scale. Based on this, an ellipsometer rig has been built and laboratory tests have already started. Measurements have been obtained from the ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelength range.

Furthermore, a hyperspectral rig has been built and tested. Work has started on designing the integration of both optical rigs into a pre-industrial prototype.

This efficient process control system is expected to be integrated into R2R machines, ensuring greater uniformity and accurately deposited functional layers. The final integrated circuits will thus have higher operational performance.Determining whether a polymer-integrated circuit is operational with rapid online techniques should greatly boost European leadership in organic and large-area electronics.