SCHOTT broadens NEXTREMA glass-ceramic portfolio
The material remains strong even under high temperatures and shows high chemical resistance. This makes it suitable for inner linings and heat shields in the high temperature industrial ovens used in semiconductor manufacturing
The international technology group SCHOTT, an specialist in the fields of specialty glass and glass-ceramics, has expanded its NEXTREMA glass-ceramics business.
This high-tech material opens up new fields of application in which traditional materials such as plastics, conventional glass or metal reach their limits.
Since the launch of NEXTREMA last fall, SCHOTT's international product team has been successfully introducing these high-performance glass ceramics to potential partners. "We have received a lot of positive feedback and customers have already placed initial orders. We expect to generate more business in the weeks and months to come. At the moment, we are focusing on the semiconductor and display industries where we are developing promising applications together with interested customers," says Michael Glaninger, Product Manager in charge of the product at SCHOTT.
The high operating temperature of the glass- ceramic NEXTREMA of up to 950° C (1,742° F) in particular makes it an ideal material to use for inner linings and heat shields in the high temperature industrial ovens used in semiconductor and display manufacturing technologies.
"Our material can be used for all fast thermal and high temperature curing processes. This includes thermal annealing systems and curing furnace systems," Glaninger explains.
High-performance glass-ceramics, for instance, are well-suited for use in all thermal production processes involving thin-film transistors (TFT) and industrial ovens for flat panel display (FPD) production.
What's more, features such as minimal thermal expansion, process inertness and a wide transmission spectrum make NEXTREMA the perfect material to use for carrier plates in the production of displays, chips and wafers.
The standard NEXTREMA product portfolio includes thicknesses of between 2-8 mm. This means production using carrier plates that are made of thinner sheets of NEXTREMA requires shorter processing cycles "“ an important cost advantage for manufacturers.