Ceramic Microcomponents
Micromachined ceramic
Demand for robust and resilient microcomponents increases with the continuous trend towards miniaturization. Many existing and new applications require microcomponents from refractory materials to obtain requires mechanical properties and ensure stability in harsh environments. Although silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and sapphire have been identified as candidates for this type of MEMS, combination of high cost, poor manufacturability, and very limited designs stimulates the development of new technologies.
Synkera Technologies addresses these needs using its ceramic micromachining technology to produce microcomponents from nanoporous alumina with the following features:
- Chemically & thermally robust ceramic microstructures
- Multilevel, surface- and bulk-like micromachining
- High aspect ratio (1:100); high resolution (2-3 µm)
This technology enables very flexible designs and provides numerous opportunities for development of novel ceramic microcomponents and microdevices:
Microsensor array substrates
Microcomponents for harsh operating conditions
Synkera actively pursues applications of this technology in its new generation gas microsensor products. Other ceramic MEMS devices and components of interest to Synkera include robust microheaters, catalytic membrane-reactors, mesoscopic power systems and other functional and structural microcomponents for harsh operating environments involving high temperature, mechanical shock, acceleration, high EMI, and high radiation levels.
Microcomponents for Life Science & BioMEMS
Ceramic chips for guided cell culturing
Due to excellent biocompatibility of anodic alumina and its intrinsic nanoporous structure, AAO is an excellent candidate for development of microcomponents for life science applications, such as cell culture chips, microwell and microreactor arrays, microfluidics and custom BioMEMS for life science & drug discovery. Please visit this page again soon or email us for more information on this product line.
Ceramic Microchannel Plates
Ceramic MCP substrates (25 mm overall diameter, 10 micron channels, aspect ratio 10:1)
Synkera’s ceramic micromachining provides a platform for fabrication of novel high-resolution ceramic microchannel plates (MCPs). This technology has a potential to overcome many limitations of glass MCPs and to enable inexpensive mass-production of MCPs with unique features and user benefits: high resolution, high count rate capabilities, better yield and reproducibility, high temperature capabilities, and long lifetime. See the Ceramic MCP Technology Profile for more information and email us for more information on this product line.