In light of ATS’ new release of the ethermVIEW, a high resolution liquid crystal thermography system, we sat down with Dr. Tavassoli, Chief Technologist at ATS to ask a few questions about liquid crystal thermography. Below is the Q & A session on commons questions that are asked about liquid crystal thermography.
Q: What are Liquid Crystals? How do they work?
A: Liquid Crystals reflect incident light at the visible wave length based on the temperature of the surface to which they are applied.
Q: Does the chip or the board get destroyed as the result of the ink/Liquid Crystal (LC) application?
A: No, ink and LC can be washed off with de-ionized water
Q: Can you reuse the LC treated surface?
A: Yes, as long as the surface is kept in a clean environment.
Q: How often do I need to calibrate?
A: Typically every time the LC is applied to a new surface, which is a good measurement practice.
Q: Are Liquid Crystals harmful?
A: No, but we do not recommend consuming them!
Q: Can you use LC’s for board level measurement?
A: Yes, LC’s can be used for any surface that can be treated with LC’s and trackable lighting.
Q: Can you mix different Liquid Crystal compounds?
A: Yes, however, it will be difficult to determine the temperature because the same colors, reflecting a temperature, will appear repeatedly as the surface is heated.
Watch liquid crystals in action! Check out the video demo
To learn more about the newly released ethermVIEW, and other surface thermography systems offered by ATS, visit http://www.qats.com/Products/Temperature-and-Velocity-Measurement/Surface-Thermography.
