Ultrahigh Temperature Materials
As a result of our past and ongoing involvement with an array of defense, industrial and high temperature materials development programs and manufacturing efforts, Exothermics has gained valuable expertise in producing many types of specialty metals, refractory compounds and nonoxide ceramics.
Most of our high-density materials are made by powder metallurgical (PM) processing, metallic encapsulation and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) or hot pressing, though we also frequently employ other green body forming and pressureless sintering processing methods. For specialty applications, we frequently synthesize our own powders to produce bulk articles. This results in improved ability to optimize the microstructure and purity of the final product for its intended application.
We have done a great deal of work in the past few years to develop fine-grained, near theoretically density ultrahigh temperature materials based on the Group IV and Group V nitrides, carbides, and borides and even cermet mixtures thereof. Materials such as TaC, HfC, HfB2, HfN and elemental boron are our particular specialties, but we have processed many other types of materials. The ultrahigh temperature materials development work we are involved with typically supports DoD efforts to field next-generation ultrahigh temperature materials for rocket/missile propulsion and hypersonic vehicle platforms, but many other markets can make use of this interesting, high performance family of materials.
Applications
This aspect of our business is mainly concerned with development and production of reaction-formed (gas and liquid phase) silicon nitride and silicon carbide for applications, though we have recently been producing a large number of refractory carbide (TiC) sputtering targets for commercial customers. We have developed new classes of high performance reaction bonded silicon nitride (RBSN) ceramics which are very high purity and can survive oxidizing exposures to 1600°C. We have valuable expertise with regard to production of complex shapes and high density, fine pore structure SiC or Si3N4 ceramics.
Applications
Specialty Thin and Thick Films
About half of our business is involved with sputtering or evaporation of metal and ceramic films for a variety of DoD customers and prime contractors. Most of this work is sensitive in nature. We have very good capabilities and expertise pertaining to sputter deposition of soft magnetic films and multilayers, rare earth lanthanides (i.e., Er, Pr, Nd) and deposition of very thick (even free-standing) films. Our skills in the bulk materials processing realm, particularly as related to HIP'ing, sintering and hot pressing, are an excellent complement to our sputtering activities in that we have in-house capabilities to manufacture our own high performance, custom composition sputtering targets.
Applications