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Material family — technical ceramics
Where metals and plastics run out of room.
Plenty of components have to be mechanically stiff, electrically insulating, thermally stable and chemically inert at the same time. Metals and polymers will give you two of those. Technical ceramics give you all four — which is why they keep turning up in the hardest positions in a process tool.
Materials
Five ceramic systems, selected on properties.
Choosing between them is usually a trade between hardness, fracture toughness, thermal conductivity and cost. We machine all five and will work through the choice with you before quoting.
| Material | Formula | Selected for |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium oxide | Al₂O₃ | The default technical ceramic — electrical insulation, wear resistance, wide availability. |
| Zirconium oxide | ZrO₂ | High fracture toughness where alumina would chip; low thermal conductivity. |
| Silicon nitride | Si₃N₄ | Thermal shock resistance and high-temperature mechanical strength. |
| Silicon carbide | SiC, SiSiC | Hardness, thermal conductivity and chemical inertness under plasma. |
| Sapphire | Al₂O₃ (single crystal) | Optical transmission with extreme hardness and chemical resistance. |
Property data varies by supplier and by grade within each system. We quote against the specific grade agreed for your part and record it on the certificate of conformance.
Where ceramic parts go
Three industries, one set of tolerances.
Semiconductor process equipment
Chamber components, insulators, nozzles, supports and wear parts operating under plasma, halogen chemistry and thermal cycling.
Integrated circuit testing
Test and handling hardware where dimensional stability and electrical isolation have to hold across thousands of cycles.
Medical diagnostic systems
Components requiring biocompatible, chemically inert materials machined to tight tolerance and cleaned to a controlled standard.
Beyond ceramics
Precision machining and contract manufacturing.
The same shop that machines ceramic also runs metal and plastic work, and can take on a whole assembly rather than a piece part. For customers moving a product line, that is often the point: one supplier, one set of documentation, one qualification.
Machining
- Precision machining of ceramic, quartz and silicon
- High-volume space-grade metal machining
- High-volume plastic machining
- Machining and assembly operations
Contract manufacturing
- Mechanical, electromechanical and software engineering design
- Component manufacture and sub-assembly
- Seal assemblies, thermoelectric modules, e-beam hardware
- Parts cleaning and analytical testing in-line
- Full project outsourcing
Why customers move work to us: shorter manufacturing lead time, lower cost per part, and the ability to expand capacity without building it themselves — with the engineering resource attached to make the transfer survive first article. Start a conversation →
Next step
Quote a ceramic or machined part.
Send a drawing, or describe the assembly you are looking to move.