Application Notes
Evaluating the Coating on a Smartphone Housing / Film thickness measurement and 3D surface profile measurement using a laser microscope
Application
To sell successfully, the latest electronic equipment, such as smartphones, must be both functional and attractive. Customers want products that look good and have a pleasant feel and surface texture. Manufacturers apply a clear coating to improve the durability of smartphone’s painted surfaces. This means that the surface of a smartphone housing has a two-layer coating: a color coating and a clear coat. Manufacturers must inspect the thickness and surface profile of both the color and clear coats to ensure a high-quality product.
The Olympus solution
Olympus' LEXT 3D scanning laser microscope is used to measure the thickness of films including color and clear coats. The microscope enables users to identify the peak amount of reflected light for multiple layers and detect the position of each layer. With these features, users can accurately measure the film thickness of a transparent layer. With the microscope’s multi-layer function, users can also obtain surface profile data for the top transparent layer as well as the material beneath to measure each layer’s roughness.
Surface of a transparent coating film
Objective lens 20X, Zoom 1X
Surface of a color coating layer
Objective lens 20X, Zoom 1X
Film thickness measurement
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*Based on Evident’s internal research as of October 2025. The guaranteed accuracy and repeatability apply only if the device has been calibrated according to the manufacturer’s specifications and is in defect free condition. Calibration must be performed by an Evident technician or an Evident-authorized specialist.
LEXT OLS5100
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