Identification of foreign particulate matter using the Morphologi G3-ID
The Morphologi G3-ID enables simultaneous physical and chemical characterization of particle samples, enabling outlier particles to be identified as being part of a product formulation or genuine foreign particle contaminants.
Identification of Foreign Particulate Matter Using the Morphologi G3-ID
The Morphologi G3-ID enables simultaneous physical and chemical characterization of particle samples, enabling outlier particles to be identified as being part of a product formulation or genuine foreign particle contaminants.
Introduction
Careful control of particle size and shape is extremely important in the fabrication of complex, high value products. The Morphologi G3-ID automated particle characterization system is ideally suited to collect and analyze these parameters. Equipped with a Raman microprobe, the Morphologi gains the additional ability to chemically identify particles. Knowing this can be critical in troubleshooting out-of-specification products, answering the question: 'Are outliers misshapen particles of the correct material or foreign contaminants?'
Method
A sample consisting primarily of PMMA spheres (~45 micron diameter) was dispersed using the Morphologi G3-ID's integrated sample dispersion unit. The sample was contaminated with small levels of two known contaminants. Automated particle imaging was performed at 10X magnification, 8,837 particles were characterized in 15 minutes. The resulting circular equivalent diameter distribution of all characterized particles is shown in Figure 1.
