An ellipsometer measures the dry mass of a material adsorbing to a surface, whereas a QCM-D instrument measures the combined mass of the adsorbing material and the solvent coupled within the structure, the so-called wet mass.

A QCM-D instrument also detects structural changes within the adsorbed film. The combination of the two techniques therefore enables quantification of solvent content in the film and can also strictly distinguish between structural changes caused by solvent uptake/release or conformation changes such as cross-linking.

The QSense Explorer Ellipsometry is equipped with an ellipsometry module that gives an external ellipsometer optical access to the QCM-D sensor surface. It has a sophisticated flow pattern to ensure a controlled flow over the sensor surface and is therefore equipped with a different pump compared to the standard QSense Explorer.

The QSense Explorer Ellipsometry requires a separate ellipsometer. Contact us for guidance on compatible ellipsometers.