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Research Quartz Crystal Microbalance (RQCM)
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QCMs have proven very beneficial in research applications due to their high sensitivity, real-time measurement capability, quick response and ease of use. Applications include corrosion, adsorption, gas sensing and polymer growth just to name a few. INFICON provides everything from complete QCM research systems with PC-based data logging software to all of the individual components.
QCM Basics
QCM research systems are basically mass sensing devices with the ability to measure very small mass changes on a quartz crystal sensor in real-time. The quartz crystal sensing device has a well-defined relationship between frequency shift and the mass deposited on its surface. This results in two major advantages of QCM research over typical mass and thickness measurement systems. First, QCMs provide real-time measurement meaning they are constantly measuring the change in mass on the sensor crystal. This can be a huge advantage compared to "after the fact" measurement devices which only tell you the end result and not what is happening during the process. The second advantage of QCMs is their amazing sensitivity. Quartz crystals are capable of measuring mass changes as small as a fraction of a monolayer of atoms.
What equipment is required?
The typical QCM system includes a quartz crystal which is the sensing device, a crystal holder which holds the crystal and provides electrical connections to the crystal`s electrodes, some type of electronic circuit which drives the crystal (commonly referred to as an oscillator) and an instrument that takes the output signal of the oscillator and displays the measured results. INFICON provides both complete QCM systems as well as individual components designed for research applications.
Maxtek RQCM Quartz Crystal Microbalance Research System
Maxtek PLO-10i Phase Lock Oscillator
Maxtek Crystal Holders/Flow Cell
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Quartz Monitor Crystals
Quality quartz crystals at great prices!
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