Colnatec say that they have developed the world's first ultra-high flux OLED deposition sensor for high-speed, continuous run manufacturing. Colnatec already demonstrated this new sensor at a respected research lab. This system registers milligram-per-second rates over one million times the current quartz crystal microbalance limit.
Colnatec Tempe sensor system
Colnatec says that this new sensor promises to dramatically change the economics of OLED thin film manufacturing - as OLED makers will be able to maintain continuous runs over extended periods of time - which will result in higher yields and decreased operating costs. Without this new sensor, manufacturers had to contend with reading fast at slow deposition rates or coating fast with no deposition measurement, resulting in lower total yield.
The new sensor uses Colnatec's Tempe heated, self-cleaning sensor in combination with the Eon deposition controller, and the HT "high temperature" quartz crystal. The sensor can measure as fast as a vapor can be created, thereby eliminating the weakest link in the production line process: speed, coupled with real-time measurement.
Colnatec lists Samsung as a customer since the company started producing sensors in 2010. They also say that the received orders for advanced sensor technology from seven major OLED manufacturing organizations, research institutions, and system builders in Europe and Asia.
