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Title: Method of accurate thickness measurement of boron carbide coating on copper foil

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1407708

A method is disclosed of measuring the thickness of a thin coating on a substrate comprising dissolving the coating and substrate in a reagent and using the post-dissolution concentration of the coating in the reagent to calculate an effective thickness of the coating. The preferred method includes measuring non-conducting films on flexible and rough substrates, but other kinds of thin films can be measure by matching a reliable film-substrate dissolution technique. One preferred method includes determining the thickness of Boron Carbide films deposited on copper foil. The preferred method uses a standard technique known as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICPOES) to measure boron concentration in a liquid sample prepared by dissolving boron carbide films and the Copper substrates, preferably using a chemical etch known as ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN). Measured boron concentration values can then be calculated.

Research Organization:
Proportional Technologies, Inc., Houston, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
SC0009615
Assignee:
Proportional Technologies, Inc. (Houston, TX)
Patent Number(s):
9,810,635
Application Number:
14/938,903
OSTI ID:
1407708
Resource Relation:
Patent File Date: 2015 Nov 12
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

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Copper-clad polyester-glass fiber laminates using zinc-coated copper patent May 1984
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Analysis of component for presence, composition and/or thickness of coating patent-application December 2007