Greece's Aristotle University boosts packaging film technology

The ultra fast optical sensing unit on the LAV unit.

The films that the technology produces are coated with vacuum-deposited oxides or ceramic materials that could provide tailored barrier properties while retaining the transparency of polymer substrates.

Under the EU-funded project Transmach, the university has created a new-generation of Large Area Vacuum (LAV) production equipment with in-line monitoring and control for films producing.  The machine is equipped with real-time measurement of coating parameters and automatic control of the process.  

By adapting and transforming spectroscopic ellipsometry (a form of optical spectroscopy based on polarised light) from a laboratory technique into an in-line industrial method the team has designed an on-machine system of monitoring the thickness and quality of transparent coatings.

This machine can make ultra fast measurements using wavelengths in the visible to far UV region in just a few milliseconds. This enables immediate process adjustment based on data collected at intervals of a few centimetres along the web length.

The university said its LAV technology provides substantial performance improvements compared with existing lacquer-coated films. It foresees “rapid growth” in this sector, given the current market trends for food and medical packaging – as well as future applications such as optical coatings on flexible displays and photovoltaic cells for solar modules, which would have higher added value and turnover rate than packaging applications.”

Initiated by the EU-funded GROWTH programme, the project has developed with the collaboration of Sergios Logothetidis from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and optical unit specialist Horiba Jobin Yvon, along with Applied Films, Alcan Packaging Services and the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging.