Plasmasens: Using Cold Atmospheric Plasmas to Transform Thin Film Manufacturing Blind Spots into Rich, Multi-Layered Insights

Thin films, or micro- and/or nano-materials with unique functional properties, enable many clean energy industries, including batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, and carbon conversion. Economical, high yield, minimal-waste manufacturing of high-performance thin films will thus be vital for achieving society’s net-zero carbon emission goals. As renewable energy demand (and consequently thin film manufacturing) continues to scale, thin film metrology becomes exponentially more challenging since it is not possible to check the key properties of each thin film at each processing step without compromising throughput. A real-time, in-line, multi-measurement thin film metrology strategy has the potential to unlock unprecedented opportunities for implementing smart manufacturing practices and advanced process control solutions to accelerate process optimization and yield ramp, reduce material waste, and realize higher precision and production throughput. SirenOpt has invented a novel thin film metrology platform, PlasmaSens TM , capable of non-destructively measuring multiple thin film properties simultaneously, in real-time, and inside of high-volume manufacturing lines. More specifically, PlasmaSens leverages cold atmospheric plasma and physics-informed machine learning to non-destructively create uniquely distinctive, multifaceted material fingerprints in real-time, thus transforming measurement blind spots into rich multi-layered material insights. SirenOpt is currently deploying beta versions of its PlasmaSens platform to industrial manufacturers and research institutions in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Taiwan.