Coherent, a specialist in ceramics and metal matrix composites, has unveiled a new additive manufacturing process. This enables the production of advanced ceramic components used in particular in state-of-the-art semiconductor capital equipment.
The additive manufacturing method developed by Coherent now enables the production of advanced ceramic components for thermal management, particularly for the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. These newly developed materials and technologies offer comparable mechanical and thermal properties to traditionally molded components.
A significant advantage of 3D printing over traditional molding is process capability, yield and throughput. It requires no changeover time between components, reducing lead times and waste. This makes additive manufacturing an ideal method for modern Industry 4.0 factories.
“Ceramic additive manufacturing enables components that are lighter and with entirely new geometries, which are required for next-generation semiconductor capital equipment designs. Until now, these components were lower in quality and precision compared with molded ceramic components. With this new breakthrough, our customers will benefit from the best of both worlds,” said Steve Rummel, Senior VP, Engineered Materials and Laser Optics Business Unit. “We’re moving quickly to establish a new ceramic additive manufacturing line in Temecula, California. We’ve also defined with our customers a strategic roadmap to broaden our additive manufacturing capabilities, beyond ceramics, to a wider range of materials, including metals.”
According to the company, ceramic components produced using this process achieve a peak elasticity of 365 GPa and a flexural strength of 290 MPa. They are ideal for a wide range of semiconductor devices, from photolithography to deposition and etching.
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