Applications in ultrasonic, aerospace, structural health monitoring and other technologies increasingly require novel complex oxides realized only through growth of single crystals. Single crystals remain the ultimate distillation of any crystalline phase and are necessary for full characterization and optimization, and for devices of the highest performance.
To support this growing need, Qi2 built its own manufacturing lab dedicated to crystal growth research, development and characterization. This technology will produce custom transducer materials for internal use and address needs of customers doing ultrasonic inspection and monitoring.
The Qi2 lab is optimized for refractory complex oxides.
| Crystal Growth Development | |
|---|---|
| Function | Equipment |
| Growth | Two research crystal growth furnaces are available for growth up to 1200°C. These systems are designed for high temperature solution (HTS) growth techniques including top seeded solution growth (TSSG) and liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) up to 75 mm in diameter. |
| Heat Treatment | A box furnace is installed to enable drying, outgassing, reacting, sintering, annealing and other heat treating functions. |
| Characterization | Qi2's lab is fully equipped, most notably with x-ray diffraction, wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence and polarizing optical microscopy (reflection and transmission). |
| Enabling Infrastructure | A laminar flow cleaning station, 18MΩ deionized water system, vented acid hood and storage cabinet, drybox chemical storage, vented weighing hood and a platinum welding station are enabling infrastructure for materials preparation, cleaning and storage. |
| Environmental | A packed bed scrubber is installed to assure a zero emissions facility for "green" research, development, and manufacturing and to remove all toxins from the manufacturing environment. |
Research and Development Services
Custom growth of complex oxides by high temperature solution methods can be undertaken on a contract basis either as a stand-alone activity, as part of a government grant/contract or as an enabling technology for customer applications. High coupling power single crystal transducers for extreme environments, including high temperature and high pressure, are expected to be a significant customer need.