Web edge metrology

A method, comprising:

• transferring a continuous sheet of flexible material from a feed reel in an unwinding chamber to a deposition module arranged downstream from the unwinding chamber, the deposition module comprising a first coating drum capable of guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past a plurality of deposition units;
• guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past the plurality of deposition units along a travel direction while depositing a lithium metal film on the continuous sheet of flexible material via the plurality of deposition units, wherein the chambers are radially disposed about the coating drum;
• guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past a metrology module, comprising a plurality of non-contact optical sensors positioned side-by-side along a transverse direction, wherein the optical sensors have a field of view coinciding with a travel path traversed by the continuous sheet of flexible material, and the transverse direction is perpendicular to the travel direction;
• flashing a strobe lamp in the field of view while guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past the field of view;
• obtaining a still image of the continuous sheet of flexible material in the field of view;
• channeling light reflected from respective image elements of the still image through respective light channeling elements to respective locations of a spectrographic light dispenser;
• and
• recording a spectral distribution at each image element within the field of view.

A method, comprising:

• transferring a continuous sheet of flexible material from a feed reel in an unwinding chamber to a deposition module arranged downstream from the unwinding chamber, the deposition module comprising a first coating drum capable of guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past a plurality of deposition units;
• guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past the plurality of deposition units along a travel direction while depositing a lithium metal film on the continuous sheet of flexible material via the plurality of deposition units, wherein the chambers are radially disposed about the coating drum;
• guiding the continuous sheet of flexible material past a metrology module, comprising a plurality of non-contact optical sensors positioned side-by-side along a transverse direction, wherein the optical sensors have a field of view coinciding with a travel path traversed by the continuous sheet of flexible material, and the transverse direction is perpendicular to the travel direction;
• and
• obtaining a first contactless electrical resistivity measurement of the lithium metal film on the continuous sheet of flexible material in the field of view.