Automated Inspection Tools for Cost-effective Quality Control of Optical Materials

Project Information

SAPPHIRO

Grant agreement ID: 815696

DOI

10.3030/815696

Project closed

EC signature date 30 May 2018

Start date 1 April 2018

End date 30 September 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SCIENTIFIC VISUAL SA
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAPPHIRO (Automated Inspection Tools for Cost-effective Quality Control of Optical Materials)

Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2018-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Industrially grown crystals are used in a vast variety of applications which are key to our modern way of life, from smartphone screens to LED and electric cars.
However, growing them is a slow and imperfect process. Very often, the crystal has defects that only get noticed after the crystal has been processed. 

In most of the industrial crystals defects appears which seriously affect crystal properties, and limit their practical applications as well as final device lifetime. Therefore identifying, classifying, and quantifying defects in an automatic way helps to control raw crystal quality and improves the amount of high quality material harvested from each crystal. 

Scientific Visual (Switzerland) developed highly innovative scanning technology to detect and map defects in raw synthetic crystals prior to crystal processing. Automated inspection tools based on this technology ensure that only high quality material enters the value stream. The current systems SapphiroScan™ and SapphiroScope™ are used in production of sapphire material intended for high volume markets such as LED, watch and touch screen devices. 

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the feasibility study, we analysed four markets in order to extend Scientific Visual innovative scanning technology beyond sapphire applications to other synthetic crystals used as in optics and semiconductor industries.
We identified three niche markets and one strategic market enough mature to shift today sapphire scanning technology into mainstream industrial applications.

Detailed saving that customers will benefit from have been analysed in order to perform a design to cost Quality Control systems.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

By the end of the project, Scientific Visual selected the most promising crystal market to expand its technology to. Scientific Visual will bring a new Quality Control system that will inspect a new range of industrially grown crystal used in one market segment. It will help society to reduce its energy consumption greatly by enabling the creation of new electronic components and lower their cost. It will contribute moving to renewable energy and reduce the cost of transitioning from light bulb to low consumption LED.

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