Gold Sputtering Targets Drive Future Technologies.
What do the electronics, automotive, aerospace, medical and glass industries have in common?
A thin film of gold from a sputtering target is at the heart of their innovative technologies that are helping society meet its biggest challenges.
Gold sputtering targets go mobile.
There’s a small amount of sputtered gold in nearly all electronic devices including billions of mobile phones which have around 50 cents of gold in each. Electronics of every size including GPS units, calculators and televisions also use gold. These electronic devices use very low voltages and currents that can be disturbed by tarnish or corrosion at contact points. Gold is a superconductor so it can reliably carry tiny currents without worry of corrosion. Which also makes it the ideal metal for use in a wide variety of automotive electronics.
Gold sputtering targets are just what the doctor ordered.
When you’re in the business of saving lives, your equipment has to work. Gold’s super conductivity, anti-corrosion properties and record of reliability and accuracy make it the choice of companies who manufacture innovative life-saving medical devices.
Tiny amounts of gold from a sputtering target play a large and increasingly important role in surgical instruments, life-support devices and other medical electronics equipment. The fast-growing point-of-care test industry also uses gold sputtering targets and other precious metals for all types of innovative diagnostic tests, like blood glucose monitoring products, which are helping people get accurate, life-saving test results in minutes without having to visit a doctor or crowded emergency room.
Gold sputtering targets are taking off in aerospace.
When you’re spending billions of dollars on a space vehicle that has to be 100% reliable you need to use the most dependable materials available. Which is why gold has hundreds of uses on the space vehicles launched by NASA and other aerospace contractors. Gold has a very low shear strength so a thin film of gold can serve as lubricant between moving parts of space vehicles. Gold’s properties as a dependable conductor and connector make it ideal for use in space vehicle circuitry. A gold-coated polyester film is often used to reflect infrared radiation to help regulate temperatures of spacecraft. The glass visor on the helmet of an astronaut's space suit is coated with a very thin film of gold to protect eyes and skin. The perfect segway into our next industry.
The climate is right for gold sputtering targets in the glass industry.
The most common use of gold in glass manufacturing is as a pigment. A small amount of gold can produce a rich ruby color. Gold is also used when manufacturing glass for climate-controlled buildings. Glass coated with gold will help buildings control their temperatures by reflecting solar radiation outward on warmer days and reflecting heat from inside the building inward to help it stay warm on colder days.
The future of sputtering targets is golden.
Most of the ways gold is being used in technology today have been developed during the last two or three decades. New thin film applications for gold and gold sputtering targets are being discovered every day. The precious metal sputtering target experts at DHF Technical Products are helping companies in these industries and others lead the way. If your innovations call for gold sputtering targets, let’s talk.
