MICROCERTEC - Advanced Ceramics for High-tech Industries

Quartz, or fused silica, can be machined like any other ceramic material thanks to diamond tools. Thus Microcertec can realize customized parts made of quartz with various sizes and shapes, high level of precision but without any optical required performances or surface finish. The most important properties of the quartz is its low coefficient of thermal expansion. From an optical point of view, the quartz is generally transparent to the infra-red wavelenghts. Applications Quartz is mainly used for : electrical insulators thermal insulators structural parts Materials From a general point of view, quartz shows : good electrical insulation very small coefficient of thermal expansion good thermal insulation good thermal resistance transparence to the infra-reds vaccum resistance Download Precision machining of quartz (374.69 Ko)

A wide variety of purity grades of alumina (or aluminium oxyde) are available on the market. Typical grades that are used for modern industrial applications are of high purity (> 95%). Amongst the various advanced ceramics that exist today, alumina is the most commonly used ceramic that has a wide range of properties and a good cost-to-performance ratio. Selection of materials Microcertec offers a wide range of aluminium oxydes : pressed 94 % alumina (AL 500 - Wesgo) pressed & extruded 95 % alumina tape cast 96 % alumina (substrates) pressed 97,6 % alumina (AL 300 - Wesgo) pressed 99,5 % (AL 995 - Wesgo) - 99,8 % alumina extruded 99.5 % - 99,8 % alumina pressed 99.5 % porosity-controlled alumina (Sintox AL - Morgan) for reflector applications pressed 99.9 % alumina in order to meet precisely the various requirements of our customers' applications and to optimise the manufacturing process. Properties Alumina is unique in having properties that offer a good...

Aluminium nitride is mostly used for its outstanding ability to dissipate heat, and together with its excellent electrical and mechanical properties, it is an advanced ceramic of choice for power electronics and microelectronics applications where heat must be dissipated. Selection of materials Microcertec offers two types of sintered alumininium nitride with a thermal conductivity of 180 W/m.K minimum : tape cast AlN (substrate), pressed AlN. A machinable aluminium nitride offering a thermal conductivity of 90 W/m.K is also available : ALN Shapal M –Soft™ Properties The main features of sintered aluminium nitride (AlN) are : excellent thermal conductivity low coefficient of thermal expansion good electrical insulation and resistivity low dielectric constant mechanical strength under compression load corrosion resistance (gas) Our typical applications Aluminium nitride is a ceramic material widely used in the following applications : heat sinks for uncooled high-power...

Zirconia grades are various. They differentiate from each other by the nature of the stabilising agent which is used. In its pure form, zirconia is not stable. Magnesia-partially-stabilised zirconia (MgO-PSZ) and yttria-partially stabilised zirconia (Y-TZP) in particular offer an outstanding resistance to mechanical shocks as well as to flexural load, because of their high fracture toughness and relative “ elasticity ”. These two zirconias are advanced ceramics of choice for severe mechanical applications. Other grades in fully stabilised composition exist and are mostly used for high-temperature applications. Selection of materials Microcertec offers those two types of zirconias that are mostly requested on the market, in pressed and extruded grades : magnesia-partially-stabilised zirconia (MgO-PSZ) yttria-partially-stabilised zirconia (Y-TZP) Properties MgO-PSZ and Y-TZP zirconias have the following features : high density high flexural strength (> 500 MPa for Mgo-PSZ and >...

Silicon carbide can be made in different chemical compositions. It can be found either as lower purity grades mostly used for thermal applications or high-purity grades (sintered SiC and CVD SiC) that makes silicon carbide an advanced ceramic with exceptionnal mechanical and thermal properties. Selection of materials Microcertec offers two high-purity silicon carbide grades that are particularly suited for hostile environments : sintered silicon carbide CVD silicon carbide Both SiC materials are mainly designed to be used in thermal-mechanical or corrosion-resistance applications because they show an outstanding behaviour to resist to wear, thermal shocks and corrosion (liquids and gases). Moreover, these pure SiC grades offer a high thermal conductivity, in the range of 120 to 160 W/m.K for sintered silicon carbide and 250 W/m.K for CVD SiC. Properties Sintered silicon carbide and CVC SiC have the following properties : low density excellent thermal shock...

Silicon nitride is one of the hardest ceramics but also one of the most resistant. Si3N4 is mainly used in severe environments which combine extreme temperatures with abrasive and/or corrosive medium. Silicon nitride can be of different grades : sintered, hot pressed or reaction bonded. Selection of materials Microcertec offers two high-purity Si3N4 grades that are particularly suited for hostile environments : sintered silicon nitride hot pressed silicon nitride Both Si3N4 materials are mainly designed to be used in thermal-mechanical or corrosion-resistance applications because they show an outstanding behaviour to resist to wear, thermal shocks and corrosion (liquids and gases). Moreover, these pure Si3N4 grades offer a low thermal expansion. Properties Sintered silicon nitride and HP Si3N4 have the following properties : low density excellent thermal shock resistance excellent wear resistance excellent corrosion resistance (liquids and gas) low coefficient of thermal...

Macor® is most used for its machinability. Softer as the other ceramic materials, Macor® allows fast turnaround to obtain complex structures with tight tolerances. Macor® can be grinded and facilitate the drilling and milling operations. Selection of materials Microcertec uses Macor® from the comapny Corning. Macor® is a glass ceramic from Silica (50%) and also with Magnesium und Aluminium. Properties Macor® have the following features : machinability good electrical insulation good thermal insulation dimensional stability vacuum resistant Our typical applications Macor® is widely used in the following applications : tools for the machine in production insulator electrode holders sensor holders lense holders mulberry outlet Download Material properties datasheet : ceramics and quartz (1472 Ko)

Quartz, or fused silica, can be machined like any other ceramic material thanks to diamond tools. Thus Microcertec can realize customized parts made of quartz with various sizes and shapes, high level of precision but without any optical required performances or surface finish. The most important properties of the quartz is its low coefficient of thermal expansion. From an optical point of view, the quartz is generally transparent to the infra-red wavelenghts. Selection of materials Microcertec uses standard grades of quartz from well-known producers like GE or Heraeus. We machine both quartz standard quality as well as semiconductor and optical grade quartz. Properties From a general point of view, quartz shows : - good electrical insulation - very small coefficient of thermal expansion - good thermal insulation - good thermal resistance - transparence to the infra-reds - vaccum resistance Our typical applications Quartz is mainly used as : - electrical insulators - thermal...

This technology was implemented as part of a transfer of technology from ONERA – National Laboratory for Aerospace Research – who developed it for its own needs. The technology contributed amongst other things to the manufacturing of electrode plates in silica for space accelerometers – GOCE project from ESA. Principle The principle is based on an electrical current – at a given frequency that fits within the field of ultrasounds –converted into a mechanical vibration that is transferred to a machining tool. The vibration frequency of the tool corresponds to the frequency of the electrical signal – in this case 20 KHZ. Our ultrasonic machining process differentiates itself from other processes because machining is carried out without contact between the tool and the part. Equipment A resonating block made up of piezoelectric ceramics transfers the vibration to the tool through the sonotrode. The mechanical expansion of the tool – so-called tool elongation – can be adjusted and...

Laser ablation technology helps the engineer to develop circuit carriers which cannot be manufactured with chemical etching technology. This kind of product results from combining the technologies of precision-grinding of ceramics and laser ablation of metallised thin-film layers. We name this concept "three-dimensional interconnection circuit or CI3D". Principle The laser structuring consist to etch directly a metallization layer deposited on a ceramic carrier with a laser beam without using a mask. This is called laser micromachining or laser ablation - because metal is ablated. Laser ablation allows patterns to be etched directly on the ceramics substrate, very rapidly and beam displacements to be programmed limitless. Equipment Solid-state lasers are mostly used for micromachining applications because they feature precision, speed and selective etching. We currently use a Nd :YAG laser with 60 W output. It enables us to etch thin-film metallised layers with thickness of up...