Characterization of coatings, failure analysis and corrosion studies using GD-OES

Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry (GD-OES) provides direct measurement of the chemical composition of materials as a function of depth and can be used to characterize various coatings, made of both thin and thick layers, conductive or non-conductive materials

It consists in a pulsed radiofrequency glow discharge plasma source that is sputtering a large area of the material of interest and real time detection by a high resolution optical spectrometer of the sputtered species excited by the same plasma. All elements from H to U can be measured using this technique.

With its capability to perform depth profiling with a nanometric resolution and to go up to 150 µm deep into the sample within few minutes, GD-OES is an ideal tool to evaluate depth profiles on materials and to study interfaces between layers, diffusion processes or to optimize coatings processes. Any type of coating can be characterized: protective coating such as native oxide or for tribological improvement, complex coating with multilayers or gradients, intermediate layers for adhesion improvement or substrate protection as well as the substrate itself. As many elements can be analyzed simultaneously, including Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon…, GD-OES is also widely used for failure analysis and also corrosion studies

Results obtained on various coatings and interfaces will be shown as well as how GD-OES can be used for corrosion studies. Examples of layer thickness measurements will be shown on various type of samples.