Advanced Optical Monitoring System Precisely Matches Optical Coating to Its Design, Every Time

Eddy Company, experts in optical monitoring systems for over 35 years, announces an innovative optical monitoring system with exceptional precision and unmatched thin-film reproduction capabilities. The SpectraLock Optical Monitoring System provides  in-situ monitoring and deposition rate control to produce single- and multi-layered thin films with exacting accuracy, time after time, without iteration or error. Eddy Company’s advanced system produces optical coatings to the precise specifications of the original optical design because of its index dispersion enhanced optical monitoring (IDEM) features.

Fred Praudisch, coating manager for ZC&R Coatings for Optics, notes, “SpectraLock is a significant time and cost-saving tool for optical monitoring because it minimizes the need for pre-coating test runs. In our facility, we’ve found that testing to confirm that the coating matches its design can be done just once after processing is complete, rather than the conventional and more time-consuming method of testing at multiple steps along the way.”

Eddy Co. President Wayne Rodgers adds, “Two fundamental properties define the full spectrum optical properties of a transparent coating:  its thickness and its refractive index dispersion. We have developed a system that calibrates the exact refractive index dispersion for each optical material and process used. This allows the SpectraLock to precisely measure the optical thickness during coating. Once in place, our field-proven SpectraLock System ensures that even complex optical thin-film coatings match their optical design with ultra-accuracy and unsurpassed repeatability from the very first layer deposited.”

Using SpectraLock, a single test run can confirm that the coating matches its design, instead of the traditional method of performing multiple test runs until a coating iteration comes close to matching the design.