Precious metals are often used in evaporation applications. During evaporation, materials like platinum, gold or silver are vaporized in a vacuum environment. This vapor then deposits on another surface, resulting in a thin film or coating.
For this process sputter targets or pellets / slugs are used. IAM Drijfhout has a large product range of precious metal equipment to use in thin film depositions (coatings) of precious metal.
Sputter targets, also known as platines, are round flat discs available in various diameters and thicknesses. They are used for applying thin films in coating and vacuum systems, such as in cleanrooms of nanolabs.
IAM Drijfhout’s targets are made of pure precious metal or precious metal alloys with a high purity of 99.95% or 99.99%.
Precious metal pellets are cylindrical pieces of high-purity precious metals, while slugs (also known as granules or grenailles) are small, irregularly shaped balls of these mentioned metals.
IAM Drijfhout offers pellets and slugs in various types of precious metals such as platinum, palladium, gold and silver, working with the purest precious metals to ensure high quality.
Sputter targets or pellets can be used in different ways to create thin film depositions (coatings) of precious metal. Two well-known applications are CVD and PVD. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) plays a crucial role in the production of wafers, often used as base material for semiconductor products like integrated (micro)chips.
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is a commonly used process in the production of coatings for various industrial and commercial applications. Within PVD, there are different methods:
Applying a thin film layer of precious metal to a surface serves various purposes. Firstly, it makes the surface exceptionally durable and scratch-resistant, which is crucial in applications requiring high resistance to wear. It can also adjust the surface’s electrical conductivity, either increasing or decreasing it, depending on the specific needs of the application. Additionally, such a layer improves the surface’s thermal conductivity, making it more resistant to (very) high temperatures – an important property in environments with extreme heat. Finally, this treatment can also be used to optimize signal transmission, by increasing or decreasing it, which is particularly important in the electronics and communications sector.
– Personal contact and advice on the best options
– Skilled production with precise dimensions of products
– High purity precious metal
– We offer recycling of used targets
