Development of a Broadband Optical End-point Monitor for Thin Film Deposition Systems**

太阳能电池、传感器、光学显示器和微电子芯片等复杂器件的开发通常依赖于增强的薄膜沉积方法。这种应用所需的薄膜涂层由沉积在基材（玻璃、金属、半导体等）表面上的一种或多种材料的非常精细的层（即厚度为几纳米至微米）组成。实现这一点的典型技术包括旋涂、浸涂、热蒸发和物理气相沉积。这些涂层控制物理特性（光学、电学等）。一种材料的表面。高科技市场对复杂和精密薄膜的需求不断增长，强烈推动薄膜沉积系统供应商开发创新的制造技术。传统的薄膜沉积和监测方法可以勉强满足致密层的规格。因此，新的趋势是使用宽带光在沉积过程中光学监测薄层的生长。Intlvac是一家加拿大公司，目前正在扩大薄膜沉积系统市场。他们希望在拉瓦尔大学的Réal Vallée教授团队的帮助下开发一种宽带光学终点监测器，旨在精确测量沉积过程中每层的厚度。将该监控器集成到Intlvac的沉积系统中将大大提高其制造能力，使全球客户能够生产满足不同行业严格规格要求的薄膜涂层。该项目的最终目标是通过将该监视器集成到Intlvac的商业系统中，将该技术转让给该公司，从而使其客户能够从这种增强的功能中受益。由于复杂薄膜制造具有挑战性，但需求不断增长，因此Intlvac在该市场保持竞争力的事实对加拿大来说是一项战略和经济资产。

The development of complex devices such as solar cells, sensors, optical displays and microelectronic chips typically rely on enhanced thin-film deposition methods. The thin-film coatings required for such applications are composed of very fine layers (i.e. several nanometers to micrometers in thickness) of one or several materials which are deposited on the surface of a substrate (glass, metal, semiconductor, etc.). Typical techniques to achieve this include spin-coating, dip-coating, thermal evaporation and physical vapor deposition. These coatings control the physical properties (optical, electrical, etc.) of the surface of a material. The ever-growing demand for complex and precise thin films by the high-tech markets have strongly pushed suppliers of thin-film deposition systems to develop innovative manufacturing techniques. The tight layer specifications can marginally be met with traditional thin-film deposition and monitoring methods. Therefore, the new trend is to optically monitor the growth of the thin layers during the deposition process using broadband light. Intlvac is a Canadian company currently expanding in the market of thin-film deposition systems. They wish to develop, with the help of Professor Réal Vallée's team at Laval University, a broadband optical end-point monitor aiming to precisely measure the thickness of each layer during the deposition process. The integration of this monitor into Intlvac's deposition systems will greatly enhance their manufacturing capabilities allowing customers worldwide to produce thin-film coatings meeting the tight specifications requested by different industries. The end goal of this project is to transfer this technology to the company by integrating this monitor into Intlvac's commercial systems and thus allow their customers to benefit from such enhanced capabilities. Since complex thin-film manufacturing is challenging but in growing demand, the fact that Intlvac remains competitive in this market is a strategic and economic asset to Canada.******