Project Advances Flexible PV and Aseptic Packaging

Defects can occur at a number of different stages in the manufacturing process, and can be caused by anomalies such as contamination and thickness variations in the film. For example, the occurrence of micro and nano-scale defects in barrier films can allow water vapour to enter flexible solar modules, which is detrimental to their performance and ultimate lifespan. Defects could also allow gases to enter or leave food packages, which significantly impacts product shelf life. Most thin film coatings for industry are produced at high speed using roll-to-roll manufacturing techniques. These systems require specialist high speed and high resolution equipment to detect and correct any defects in production.

NanoMend has developed seven technology systems that will aid the commercialisation of flexible photovoltaics and aseptic packaging. The project has assessed the economic feasibility of these technologies using roll to roll processes at pilot production scale.

The technologies developed include:

1. Atomic layer deposition for photovoltaics.
2. Atomic layer deposition for aseptic packaging.
3. On line ultra precision 3D surface metrology for roll to roll thin film processing utilising wavelength scanning interferometery.
4. High sensitivity water vapour transmission rate testing of ultra barrier films.
5. Fourier imaging systems for the in-line inspection of structured surfaces.
6. Local cleaning methods for micron sized particle contamination in thin film processing.
7. High-speed high-resolution surface inspection.