Photo Etching Metals
Photo Etching Metals
We design and manufacture photo etched components from various metals suitable for aerospace, defense, medical, electronic, filtration, automotive and many other commercial markets. Our core competency lies in producing micro-machined components, such as micro fluidic devices, screens and meshes, fuel valves, manifolds, electronic components and disc filters. Chemically Etched Miniature Systems (ChEMS ®) as well as our PhotoPore® screens are two of our patented etched products which are used in critical spacecraft and medical applications.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE METALS WE ETCH
Stainless steelTitaniumBrassCopperNickel alloyCarbon & spring steel andHyMu
METAL PHOTO ETCHING PROCESS
Depending on the dimensions, tolerances, edge profiles, and configuration requirements, certain materials may be better suited for your needs. Our assistance is offered upon material selection. Photo etched components can be produced from panels up to 28” x 68” in size in our clean rooms, holding minimum dimensional tolerances of ±0.0005″ and even better positional tolerances. Based on your application requirements, we can process etched components in tabbed or untabbed process sheets. Our operations yield consistent etching results and dimensional consistencies across the entire panel.
At the beginning of every fabrication project, component specifications provided by customers are reviewed thoroughly and a project engineer is assigned to each job. Design assistance is also offered to customers with Autodesk Inventor, COSMOS and Ansoft Maxwell 2D. Photographic artworks are generated according to customers’ exact specifications and are laser plotted to engineered “photo tools”. The images produced by these photo tools are exposed onto resistant dry or wet films; controlled UV exposure ensures accurate transfer of images from artwork photo tools to the process panels. As one of the largest commercial etching facilities in the United States, we offer development, prototyping and high volume manufacturing capabilities.
Statistical Process Control (SPC) is used throughout our production process and chemical controls. Our SPC ensures high quality regulation of your photo etched component. Proprietary resist removal solutions are used for stripping the resistant films from etched panels. Along with our photo etching expertise, we provide many other in-house capabilities including; Automated Visual Inspection, Assembling, Testing, Diffusion and Adhesive Bonding, Forming, Special Packaging and other value added operations performed to your components, in a dust-controlled environment. As an environmentally committed organization, we recycle all acid and metal waste.
