QUESTION:

Can I visualize the chemistry of different layers on e.g. a printed circuit board?

In coated, laminated or printed materials, the presence, thickness and chemistry of the various layers present is of pivotal importance for the material properties and interaction with its local environment.

APPROACH:

Cross-sectional sample preparation combined with FTIR imaging on our Cary 620 FTIR Imaging Microscope.

AgfaLabs is able to prepare cross-sectional samples using a variety of techniques, ranging from simple cleaving to (ultra)microtomy, ion-beam methods and cross-sectional polishing. When it comes to hard materials that are not brittle, like pcb boards, embedding combined with cross-sectional polishing is often the best choice.
AgfaLabs uses state-of-the-art equipment for this purpose.

Once a cross-sectional samples has been prepared, inspection of the layer stack can be performed using optical microscopy, where necessary using special techniques like polarized light or dark-field imaging.

When the chemistry of different layers that are present needs to be analyzed, we turn to FTIR imaging using a focal plane array (FPA) detector. This technique allows different components in a material to be mapped out, based upon their distinctive FTIR spectrum.