The Approach
In order to arrive at this conclusion, Polymer Solutions Incorporated used two
main analytical techniques to examine the defect region:
- Optical microscopy
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS)
Initially, the defect was viewed and documented using an optical microscope. A
white dashed oval in the 32x image above encompasses the location of the contaminants.
In order to characterize the defect region, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) was utilized. This analytical
technique is ideal for determining the presence of inorganic species, especially in
very small spot sizes.
Many small
particles were embedded in the surface of the silicone as seen in the above 500x and 2,000x SEM images. EDS analysis of a wide
area of the defect region indicated the presence of silicon, oxygen,
aluminum, cobalt, chromium, and molybdenum.
:: Back To Top