COATING CONTROL

Coating thickness measurement

A few microns decide a cost, a service life and sometimes a compliance. X-ray fluorescence measures them on the finished part, without a metallographic cross-section and without damaging it.

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Non-destructive

On the finished part

Al → Sn

Element range measured

Layer by layer

Multilayer stacks

What the measurement actually reads

The beam excites both the coating and its substrate. The layer emits its own signal and attenuates that of the substrate: the ratio between the two gives the thickness. Nothing is cut, nothing is consumed — the measured part goes back into production.

On the finished part, in its real geometry, not on a coupon
Layer by layer, on stacks of several successive deposits
Against certified standards, which must match your own stack
In series rather than by sampling, since the check destroys nothing

The coatings we see come through

Six families, one question: how many microns, and in the right place?

PVD and vacuum deposition

Titanium nitride, DLC, decorative gold: layers a few tenths of a micron thick, where excess is costly and shortfall wears through.

Electroplating and plating baths

Control the deposit, track a bath drifting, document a batch for compliance.

ENIG, ENEPIG and printed circuits

Gold over electroless nickel: two thin layers whose thickness governs solderability.

Gold plating, jewellery and watchmaking

The thickness of a plating decides how it wears — and tells it apart from solid metal.

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Connectors and semiconductors

Contacts, tracks, successive deposits: small surfaces and tight tolerances.

RoHS, solders and compliance

The same measurement serves thickness control and the search for regulated metals.

What makes a measurement trustworthy

An instrument alone is not enough: three things decide the result.

The standards

A thickness measurement is only as good as its calibration standards — and they must match your own stack, not a neighbouring one.

The stack

Gold over palladium over nickel over brass: each layer attenuates those beneath it. Separating their contributions means knowing the structure before measuring.

The geometry

Beam diameter and part shape go together. A circuit track and a watch case do not call for the same configuration.

A benchtop instrument, built for thin-layer precision

Measuring thin layers calls for a collimated beam and a part held steady. That is what separates a coating thickness instrument from a handheld analyser — and what decides the choice.

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Calibrated in Switzerland
Repaired in Switzerland
Custom adjustments
Local support

Which instrument for your stack?

Describe your coating, its substrate and the tolerance to hold. We will tell you what the measurement allows, and with which instrument.

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