Semiconductors are found in almost every electronic device in your home. The process to build one has many phases, including rigorous testing. The device is able to regulate the flow of energy, like an “on/off” switch. Creating the circuitry is done in steps, and requires advanced fabrication techniques like plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Here is a bit more information on how this process works.

Semiconductor Manufacture

Semiconductors need to have a circuit board mapped out, then circuitry applied. They are made of compacted silicon, which is then shaped and hardened before they are cut to size. The chips are often wafer thin, and the entire process can take up to eight weeks. This is all done at a nearly microscopic level due to the precision required. First, a kind of “map of circuitry” is drawn (or more accurately, printed) onto the surface of the board. Next, ion beam etching is used to apply the materials to the circuit board.

Throughout this process, hazardous materials are used to coat the device, including arsine and phosphorus. After manufacture, chips must be tested with an electronic tester. This devices presses tiny probes against the chip to determine if it transfers power properly.

Applications

Semiconductors are found in just about anything. They are the primary components in computers, but they are found in other electronic appliances as well. They are used to transfer power from one section of a device to another, like powering a computer processor.

Denton Vacuum, LLC manufactures a magnetron sputtering system used in the manufacture of semiconductors and industrial devices.

Modern medical device coatings are designed to eliminate the discomfort involved with tubes inside the body. Items like catheters would cause extreme discomfort without some sort of technology to make the tubing slip-proof. Using special manufacturing processes, we are able to create medical devices that can fit comfortably within the body. The following are just a few uses for this exciting technology.

Beam Technology

Using a super-heating process with ion beams, manufacturers are able to produce medical tubing that is capable of resisting long-term wear and tear. It’s a similar process to the one used in the manufacture of metalized plastic, which can be found in aircraft systems. This space-age technology uses electrons to super heat a substance and melt it down to a molecular level. The particulate matter then bounces around the chamber until it settles on the substrate. The material coats the substrate completely, which allows manufacturers to coat materials that would otherwise melt under the extreme temperatures. apply particular matter to something called the substrate. Manufacturers must first create a 3-D model of the substrate, which they use to make the proper calculations before it’s placed in the chamber.

Medical Applications

This technology is prevelant in many devices in circulation today. Chances are good that anyone wearing a prosthetic implant uses materials created by this technology. This process can be used to metalize plastics and make them more durable, useful for joints in a moving part like an artificial knee or hip. Thanks to plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, we can replace lost limbs and give patients a new lease on life.

Denton Vacuum, LLC makes PECVD systems for use in the coating of medical devices. Find out more about manufacturing with PECVD when you visit Denton Vacuum, LLC.

Ion beam assisted deposition is an important manufacturing process used in many household goods.

Written by: Denton Vacuum, LLC

There are two major components that are important to ion beam assisted deposition: you need a substrate that you can apply a coating to. This could be the lens of a pair of eye glasses, the cell from a solar panel, parts for a car, or medical tubing. The coating material is also required. It can be a special chemical to erase glare in lenses, or it can be aluminum to be applied to plastic sheets.

Process Explained

Once you have both the substrate and coating, both objects are placed into a vacuum sealed chamber. Then the coating can begin.

Optical coating systems start by heating the coating substance and melting it down. This breaks the coating down into particulate matter, which then bounces off the walls of the chamber before settling onto the substrate. While this is happening, the chamber is being cooled. The combination of the hot and cold causes the particles to settle and solidify on the substrate.

Applications

Ebeam technology is used to manufacture the solar absorbent coating on a solar cell. It also adds durability to common parts used in manufacturing and automobiles through metallization, or the application of a thin metallic coating. You can find evidence of deposition on eye glasses as well.

Final Thoughts

Much of the technology that uses sputtering was once out of reach of consumers. Solar panels are still the exception, being too expensive for everyone to afford at the moment, but we are fast approaching a time where technology makes it easy for us to mass produce amazing items.

Several household products would not exist today without the usage of sputtering. Sputtering is used heavily in the medical industry, creating products plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The process is also responsible for many kinds of household products that you probably use every day.

Sputtering Defined

Sputtering is the process of depositing thin layers of film onto an object. You can think of sputtering like tinting the windows on a car, but the process occurs at a microscopic level. In medical technology, for instance, sputtering uses vacuum deposition systems to apply a viscous coating to something that will enter the bloodstream. This keeps the device from gaining too much mass. Household products aren’t as concerned with mass, but there are a variety of reasons why a microscopic layer of film could be useful.

Mirrors

A microscopic layer of film applied to a pane of glass creates a mirror. The early days of mirror manufacturing involved a layer of mercury applied to a sheet of plate glass, usually to the back of the surface. The result is a kind of looking glass, where the mirror seems behind the glass pane.

Safety glass mirrors use a special film that helps the glass break a certain way to avoid injuries. Silkscreen glass windows apply their colors to a specially treated film that allows the dyes to adhere. Silvery glass mirrors are ordinary panes of glass with a thin film of silver to provide reflectivity.

Computers

Silicon can act like a conductor in certain situations, a fact that helped create the “Silicon Valley.” Engineers discovered that by purifying and melting silicon, they could reshape the substance and create circuit boards. Still, anyone with a laptop can appreciate the process of sputtering.

Once the board is made from the silicon, sputtering is used to lay down chemicals that form the basis of the circuits. The actual characteristics of the board are based on the types of chemicals used, and the formation of those chemicals. Without sputtering, laptops and desktops wouldn’t exist along with hundreds of other household appliances.

Cameras

Cameras themselves don’t use sputtering outside of the formation of their circuit boards, but the lenses might. Thin film coatings help protect lenses from UV light and scratches. Special coatings can also add colored filters, which are useful in film. This process occurs in a vacuum, where the lens (called a substrate) is allowed to absorb the chemicals as they are heated and allowed to flow freely within a sealed chamber.
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Denton Vacuum, LLC makes sputtering systems that can help manufacture Diamond like carbon. For more information on sputtering systems, contact Denton Vacuum, LLC.