High Tech Ceramics News articles from January 2003

High Tech Ceramics News archives from January 2003

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: MEMS/MST Market to Cross $26 Billion.
January 1, 2003... Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and Micro-systems (MST) together represent one of the fastest growing technology areas. Sales volumes of MEMS products will soon approach nearly 10% of those of the semiconductor industry. This growth...

PROCESSING AND TECHNOLOGIES Brake Performance Improves.
January 1, 2003... Carbon composite materials offer unique physical, thermal, and chemical properties that significantly improve performance for disc brake systems. Honeywell has developed a technology for using a ceramic solution to enhance carbon's...

Refractory, Oxidation Resistant Insulation.
January 1, 2003... NASA Ames Research Center researchers have invented lightweight, refractory ceramic/carbon thermal-insulation materials. These materials consist of carbon, silicon, and oxygen in suitable proportions combined into molecular structures that are...

Ceradyne Wins Armor Contract.
January 1, 2003... Ceradyne, Inc. recently announced the receipt of a $9 million order for its small arms protective insert (SAPI) lightweight ceramic armor system from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency. It is anticipated that shipments will begin February 2003...

METROLOGY AND ANALYSIS: Computer Code Analyzes Piezoelectric Composite.
January 1, 2003... SMARTSHELL is a finite-element computer program for analyzing composite-material propulsion-system structural components (including shells) that are characterized as "smart" because they contain integral piezoelectric sensors and/or actuators....

Ion Beam Microscope Improves Materials.
January 1, 2003... The Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate has acquired an advanced microscope that will greatly enhance the facility's capability to develop new materials for current and future aerospace systems. Designed...

POWDERS AND NANO CERAMICS Mill Produces Fine Powders.
January 1, 2003... Retsch', Inc. says that its newest rotor beater mill, the SR 300, can process chemical and biological samples, dry organic plant material, minerals, and pharmaceutical products. Materials with feed sizes of up to 15 mm can be processed to...

Nanosized Yttria Powders.
January 1, 2003... Chinese researcher J. Wang at the University of Petroleum has developed a technique to produce nanosized yttria powders. The process begins with obtaining a precipitate, mainly Y2(OH)5(NO3)0.86 H2O when yttrium nitrate is used as the mother...

Zirconia Nanoparticle Is Synthesized.
January 1, 2003... Reactive powders have been synthesized by using several chemical processes. Researchers from Brazil B.D. Stojanovic, C. Paiva- Santos, J.A. Varela (UNESP-Institute of Chemistry), and C.R. Foschini (MIT) used a method consisting of the...

Nanophase Technologies Announces Order.
January 1, 2003... Nanophase Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: NANX), a producer of nanomaterials, has announced that it had received an annual order for 2003 from its leading customer for sunscreen and personal care nanomaterials. The company anticipates revenues in...

COATINGS: CBN Films by Plasma-Jet CVD.
January 1, 2003... Japan's NIMC researchers S. Matsumoto, W.J. Zhang, and J. Yu synthesized CBN films on Si substrates from the Ar-N2-BF3-H2 gas system by bias-assisted plasma jet CVD. The BN films obtained show a strong IR absorption of the CBN peak, and the CBN...

CBN Films and Ion Beam Deposition.
January 1, 2003... Cubic boron nitride (CBN) thin films can be deposited with a variety of different methods and these films contain CBN with an amount of up to 90%. Cubic boron nitride formation is only observed if the growing film is bombarded with energetic...

FIBERS AND COMPOSITES: Rapid Prototyping of CMCS Developed.
January 1, 2003... A team of researchers from Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, Advanced Ceramics Research (Tucson, AZ), and The Center for Composite Materials at University of Delaware developed a process for rapid prototyping in ceramic-matrix...

Heatsinks for Laser Diodes.
January 1, 2003... NASA researchers Sang Hyouk Choi and Howard G. Maahs of Langley Research Center have been developing carbon-composite submounts tipped with diamond as improved means of dissipating heat generated in high-power laser diodes. Copper is the...

ZIRCAR's New Refractory Sheet.
January 1, 2003... ZIRCAR Refractory Composites, Inc. has introduced Refractory Sheet Cylinder Type RS-101. This ceramic fiber reinforced structural alumina product offers useful properties to 2,300F (1,260C). It retains strength and utility to levels far...

DIAMOND PRODUCTS: Reduced Wear and Friction.
January 1, 2003... Researchers at John H. Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, OH) have achieved reducing friction and wear of CVD diamond films by surface modifications. Progress has been achieved in continuing research directed toward increasing the wear...

Metalorganic CVD of Ru-Doped DLC.
January 1, 2003... University of Kentucky researchers M.K. Sunkara, M. Ueno (Department of Chemical Engineering), and G. Lian and E.C. Dickey (Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering) have investigated metalorganic precursor deposition using a Microwave...

ELECTRONIC CERAMICS: CTS's OCXOs for Timing Module.
January 1, 2003... CTS Corp. (NYSE: CTS) has announced that it has been selected as the primary supplier of oven controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs) for Datum, Inc.'s StarLoc II Timing Module. StarLoc II is a precision GPS time and frequency reference unit in...

Cree Completes LDMOS 8 Process.
January 1, 2003... Cree Microwave, Inc., a subsidiary of Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), and a leader in manufacturing high-power, high-performance laterally diffused metal-oxide silicon (LDMOS) RF power semiconductors for the wireless industry, has announced that it...

Vishay's Compact PowerPAK.
January 1, 2003... Siliconix, Inc., an 80.4% owned subsidiary of Vishay Intertechnology, has announced the launch of the Si9185, a 500-mA CMOS low-dropout (LDO) regulator that features very low dropout and ground current in an exceptionally compact, thermally...

Toshiba to Build 300-mm Plants.
January 1, 2003... Toshiba Corp. has decided in principle to construct semiconductor production facilities employing 300-mm wafers. Toshiba will construct production lines at two of its major facilities in Japan. The first will be at its Oita operations, the...

SUPERCONDUCTORS HTc Power Applications.
January 1, 2003... American Superconductor Corp. has issued an update on recent advances in the utilization of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wires in electric power applications, including power generation, transmission and distribution, and ship...

SuperPower, Sumitomo in Collaboration.
January 1, 2003... SuperPower, Inc., a division of Intermagnetics General Corp. (Latham, NY), has announced at a shareholders meeting on November 12, 2002, that a definitive agreement has been signed with Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (SEI) outlining the...

STI Develops Interference Simulator.
January 1, 2003... Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCON, "STI"), a producer of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) products for wireless voice and data applications, has presented a unique analysis tool that enables wireless operators to simulate...

COMPANY NEWS: Cree Nichia Agree To Cross License.
January 1, 2003... Cree, Inc. and Nichia Corp., two world leaders in nitride LED and laser technology, have announced that they have entered into a patent cross license agreement and settlement of litigation between the companies concerning gallium nitride-based...

STI and Conductus Complete Merger.
January 1, 2003... Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOJN), a manufacturer of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) products for wireless voice and data applications, has announced that it has completed the merger with Conductus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTS)...

Corning Sells Lens Subsidiary.
January 1, 2003... Corning, Inc. has announced that it has completed the sale of Corning Precision Lens, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning, Inc., to 3M for $850 million in cash. Concluding a transaction that was originally announced on November 12, 2002,...

Coors Family Buys CoorsTek for $254M.
January 1, 2003... CoorsTek, Inc. has announced that it has accepted a sweetened, $26 per share offer from the Coors family, a month after the industrial components manufacturer rejected Coors' offer as too low. The 8.6 million-share transaction with Keystone...

Conductus Sees Revenues Fall.
January 1, 2003... Conductus, Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance superconducting wireless systems, announced financial results for the third quarter and 9 months ended September 30, 2002. Revenues for the third quarter of 2002 were $1,282,000, which...

CALENDAR.
January 1, 2003... January 26-31, 2003. 27th Annual Cocoa Beach Conference and Exposition, an International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites. Contact: American Ceramic Society, P.O. Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136; Tel: 614/890-4700, Fax:...