WO2004044539B1 - Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe - Google Patents

Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe

Info

Publication number
WO2004044539B1
WO2004044539B1 PCT/US2003/036029 US0336029W WO2004044539B1 WO 2004044539 B1 WO2004044539 B1 WO 2004044539B1 US 0336029 W US0336029 W US 0336029W WO 2004044539 B1 WO2004044539 B1 WO 2004044539B1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
probe
oscillator
sensor coil
amended
circuit
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2003/036029
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2004044539A2 (en
WO2004044539A3 (en
Inventor
Kent Kinman Tam
Original Assignee
Northrop Grumman Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Northrop Grumman Corp filed Critical Northrop Grumman Corp
Priority to CA002505827A priority Critical patent/CA2505827A1/en
Priority to EP03768895A priority patent/EP1561120A2/en
Priority to JP2004552107A priority patent/JP2006506621A/en
Priority to BR0316269-9A priority patent/BR0316269A/en
Priority to AU2003291492A priority patent/AU2003291492A1/en
Publication of WO2004044539A2 publication Critical patent/WO2004044539A2/en
Publication of WO2004044539A3 publication Critical patent/WO2004044539A3/en
Publication of WO2004044539B1 publication Critical patent/WO2004044539B1/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N27/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of electric, electrochemical, or magnetic means
    • G01N27/02—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of electric, electrochemical, or magnetic means by investigating impedance
    • G01N27/023—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of electric, electrochemical, or magnetic means by investigating impedance where the material is placed in the field of a coil

Abstract

A non-contact probe (100) for determining the conductivity of coating materials is disclosed. The probe (10) includes a free running oscillator (40) operating at a selected frequency, a sensor made up of an LC circuit, a detector for detecting a change in the the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil (44) induction, and a microprocessor (68) for converting the detected changes in the signal to surface conductivity data. The detector may be a frequency detector that detects changes in the resonant frequency of the LC circuit or the detector may be a magnitude detector that detects changes in the signal magnitude of the LC oscillator (40). The sensor is the coil inductor (44) of the LC circuit. Inductance of the sensor coil is variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil.

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS[received by the International Bureau on 9 July 2004 (09.07.04); original claims 1-40 replaced by amended claims 1-51 (8 pages)]CLAIMS:What is claimed is:
1. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material having a conductive surface, the probe comprising:
(a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil;
(c) a frequency detector for detecting a change in the resonant frequency of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction;
(d) a microprocessor for converting detected changes in the resonant frequency to surface conductivity data;
(e) a spacer for maintaining the sensor coil at a fixed distance from the conductive surface.
2. The probe of Claim 1, wherein the oscillator is a free running oscillator.
3. The probe of Claim 2, wherein the free running oscillator is a Colpitts oscillator circuit.
4. The probe of Claim 1, wherein the oscillator frequency is a radio frequency.
5. The probe of Claim 4, wherein the oscillator frequency is about 21 MHz.
6. (Amended) The probe of Claim 1, wherein the probe is maintained at the fixed distance from the conductive surface in order to determine a surface resistance measurement based on a shift in the resonant frequency. 16
7. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material having a conductive surface, the probe comprising: (a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil; (c) a frequency detector for detecting a change in the resonant frequency of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction; and
(d) a processor for converting detected changes in the resonant frequency to surface conductivity data; wherein the sensor coil is maintained at a fixed distance from the conductive surface-in order to determine a surface resistance measurement based on a shift in the resonant frequency, the shift in the resonant frequency being mapped to a set of known thin film resistance standards to yield the surface resistance measurement as an equivalent reading in Ω/sq.
8. The probe of Claim 7, wherein the set of known thin film resistance standards is stored in the microprocessor.
9. (Amended) The probe of Claim 7, wherein the probe has a surface resistance range of about 0.01 Ω/sq to about 30 Ω/sq.
10. (Amended) The probe of Claim 7, wherein the material is a nonmagnetic conductive material.
11. (Amended) The probe of Claim 7, wherein the material is a ferromagnetic material. 17
12. (Amended) The probe of Claim 1, further comprising a display device for displaying output representative of the conductivity measurement.
13. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material, the probe comprising:
(a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil;
(c) a frequency detector for detecting a change in the resonant frequency of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction; and
(d) a processor for converting detected changes in the resonant frequency to surface conductivity data; wherein a MagRAM coatmg is applied on top of the material and the conductivity measurement is used to determine a thickness of the MagRAM coating by magnetic induction.
14. (Amended) The probe of Claim 13, wherein the material has a conductive or non-conductive substrate.
15. (Amended) The probe of Claim 13, wherein the material has a non- conductive surface.
16. (Amended) The probe of Claim 13, wherein the MagRAM coating is covered by a non-conductive paint coat.
17. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material having a conductive surface, the probe comprising:
(a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency; 18
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator and operative to resonate at a resonant frequency, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil; (c) a signal magnitude detector for detecting a change in the signal magnitude of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction;
(d) a processor for converting detected changes in the signal magnitude to surface conductivity data; and
(e) a spacer for maintaining the sensor coil at a fixed distance from the conductive surface.
18. (Amended) The probe of Claim 17, wherein the oscillator is a free running oscillator.
19. (Amended) The probe of Claim 18, wherein the free running oscillator is a Colpitts oscillator circuit.
20. (Amended) The probe of Claim 17, wherein the oscillator frequency is a radio frequency.
21. (Amended) The probe of Claim 20, wherein the oscillator frequency is about 21 MHz.
22. (Amended) The probe of Claim 17, wherein the probe is maintained at the fixed distance from the conductive surface in order to determine a surface resistance measurement based on a shift in the signal magnitude.
23. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material having a conductive surface, the probe comprising:
(a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor 19
coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil;
(c) a signal magnitude detector for detecting a change in the signal magnitude of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction; and
(d) a processor for converting detected changes in the signal magnitude to surface conductivity data; wherein the material has a conductive surface and the sensor coil is maintained at a fixed distance from the conductive surface in order to determine a surface resistance measurement based on a shift in the signal magnitude, the shift in the signal magnitude being mapped to a set of known thin film resistance standards to yield the surface resistance measurement as an equivalent reading in Ω/sq.
24. (Amended) The probe of Claim 23, wherein the set of known thin film resistance standards is stored in the conversion circuit.
25. (Amended) The probe of Claim 23, wherein the probe has a surface resistance range of about 0.01 Ω/sq to about 30 Ω/sq.
26. (Amended) The probe of Claim 23, wherein the material is a nonmagnetic conductive material.
27. (Amended) The probe of Claim 23, wherein the material is a ferromagnetic material.
28. (Amended) The probe of Claim 17, further comprising a display device for displaying output representative of the conductivity measurement.
29. (Amended) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material, the probe comprising:
(a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor 20
coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil;
(c) a signal magnitude detector for detecting a change in the signal magnitude of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction; and
(d) a processor for converting detected changes in the signal magnitude to surface conductivity data; wherein a MagRAM coating is applied on top of the material and the conductivity measurement is used to determine a thickness of the MagRAM coating by using magnetic induction to measure dissipation of energy stored in the LC circuit.
30. (Amended) The probe of Claim 29, wherein the material has a non- conductive surface.
31. (Amended) The probe of Claim 29, wherein the MagRAM coating is covered by a non-conductive paint coat.
32. (New) A non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe for conductivity measurement of a material having a test surface, the probe comprising: (a) an oscillator operating at a selected oscillator frequency;
(b) a sensor comprising an LC circuit that is an integral part of the oscillator, the LC circuit including a generally planar sensor coil (L), inductance of the sensor coil being variable depending on conductivity of the material near the sensor coil, the sensor coil being etched on a printed circuit (PC) board such that the sensor coil is maintained at a fixed distance from the test surface by the printed circuit board;
(c) a frequency detector for detecting a change in the resonant frequency of the LC circuit in response to change in the sensor coil induction; and (d) a processor for converting detected changes in the resonant frequency to surface conductivity data.
33. (New) The probe of Claim 32 wherein the thickness of the PC board is 21 approximately 0.03 inch and having a blank surface that interfaces with the test surface.
34. (New) The probe of Claim 32 wherein the sensor coil is an 8-turn coil tuned to a resonant frequency of about 15 MHz.
35. (New) The probe of Claim 32 wherein the etched sensor coil is copper trace.
36. (New) The probe of Claim 32 wherein the etched sensor coil has an outer diameter of about 0.5 inch.
37. (New) The probe of Claim 32 wherein the etched sensor coil has a generally spiral configuration on the PC board.
38. (New) The probe of Claim 32, wherein the oscillator is a free running oscillator.
39. (New) The probe of Claim 38, wherein the free running oscillator is a Colpitts oscillator circuit.
40. (New) The probe of Claim 32, wherein the oscillator frequency is a radio frequency.
41. (New) The probe of Claim 40, wherein the oscillator frequency is about 21 MHz.
42. (New) The probe of Claim 32, wherein the sensor coil is maintained at a fixed distance from the test surface in order to determine a surface resistance measurement based on a shift in the resonant frequency.
43. (New) The probe of Claim 42, wherein the shift in the signal magnitude is mapped to a set of known thin film resistance standards to yield the 22
surface resistance measurement as an equivalent reading in Ω/sq.
44. (New) The probe of Claim 43, wherein the set of known thin film resistance standards is stored in the processor.
45. (New) The probe of Claim 43, wherein the probe has a surface resistance range of about 0.01 Ω/sq to about 30 Ω/sq.
46. (New) The probe of Claim 43, wherein the material is a non-magnetic conductive material.
47. (New) The probe of Claim 43, wherein the material is a ferromagnetic material.
48. (New) The probe of Claim 32, further comprising a display device for displaying output representative of the conductivity measurement.
49. (New) The probe of Claim 32, wherein a MagRAM coating is applied on top of the material and the conductivity measurement is used to determine a thickness of the MagRAM coating by using magnetic induction to measure dissipation of energy stored in the LC circuit.
50. (New) The probe of Claim 49, wherein the material has a non- conductive surface.
51. (New) The probe of Claim 49, wherein the MagRAM coating is covered by a non-conductive paint coat.
PCT/US2003/036029 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe WO2004044539A2 (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002505827A CA2505827A1 (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe
EP03768895A EP1561120A2 (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe
JP2004552107A JP2006506621A (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact type surface conductivity measurement probe
BR0316269-9A BR0316269A (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity probe for conductivity measurement of a material
AU2003291492A AU2003291492A1 (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/293,648 US6819120B2 (en) 2002-11-13 2002-11-13 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe
US10/293,648 2002-11-13

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2004044539A2 WO2004044539A2 (en) 2004-05-27
WO2004044539A3 WO2004044539A3 (en) 2004-07-15
WO2004044539B1 true WO2004044539B1 (en) 2004-08-26

Family

ID=32312156

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2003/036029 WO2004044539A2 (en) 2002-11-13 2003-11-12 Non-contact surface conductivity measurement probe

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US6819120B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1561120A2 (en)
JP (1) JP2006506621A (en)
AU (1) AU2003291492A1 (en)
BR (1) BR0316269A (en)
CA (1) CA2505827A1 (en)
RU (1) RU2005118104A (en)
WO (1) WO2004044539A2 (en)

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2004044539A2 (en) 2004-05-27
US20040100277A1 (en) 2004-05-27
AU2003291492A1 (en) 2004-06-03
CA2505827A1 (en) 2004-05-27
AU2003291492A8 (en) 2004-06-03
RU2005118104A (en) 2006-01-20
BR0316269A (en) 2005-10-11
JP2006506621A (en) 2006-02-23
EP1561120A2 (en) 2005-08-10
US6819120B2 (en) 2004-11-16
WO2004044539A3 (en) 2004-07-15

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