Silver
If you’ve got the substrate, we’ve got the silver sputtering target.
Custom manufactured silver targets? Check. Innovative rotatable silver targets? Check. Silver evaporation pellets and a target recycling program that’s 1,763 degrees from ordinary? Check and check. If you’re looking for silver sputtering targets and other sputter coating applications for industries including aerospace, automotive, glass, medical or semiconductor, trust the precious metal experts at DHF. The hardest working company, and the hardest working targets, in the thin film industry.
Why is silver uniquely suited for sputtering targets?
Silver is the most conductive and reflective metal on Earth. Since ancient times, silver has been used for a variety of breakthrough products and inventions that have moved the world forward. That legacy continues to this day. Silver is an essential element in the production of Low-Emissivity (Low-E) glass, semiconductors, medical devices, sensors, fuel cells and optical coatings. It is malleable, ductile and is produced as a byproduct of refining copper, gold, lead and zinc.
Helping customers develop a more efficient silver sputtering process.
DHF Technical Products specializes in silver and precious metal sputter targets. Silver sputtering occurs under highly controlled conditions and our silver targets are made for your individual coaters and their exacting specifications. We manufacture parts to have an optimal grain size and density. The result is a custom silver sputtering target that helps you apply metal as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible to nearly any substrate.
Custom designed and manufactured silver sputtering targets.
Silver sputter targets are not all alike. Literally. Our innovative silver targets are designed and manufactured in custom diameters, custom shapes, custom thicknesses and custom purities up to 99.99%. We produce one-of-a-kind designs and materials for both planar and rotary targets. DHF silver targets are custom made, bespoke and designed to fit your coater to produce the most efficient sputtering outcome possible. Each custom silver target is manufactured in our ISO-9001 factory in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and analyzed using industry standard techniques including X-Ray Fluorescence (XFR) and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP).
Lowering silver sputtering target cost of ownership.
Let DHF Technical Products reimagine your silver sputter targets from beginning to end to lower the cost of sputtering target ownership. We offer full lifecycle support from design and manufacturing to shield cleaning and spent target refining/recycling. Everything we do is designed to help extend the life of your silver sputter targets and reduce your long term costs.
Working capital solutions from the silver sputtering target experts.
Our state-of-the-art R&D group can help identify designs and materials to optimize your silver sputter coating performance. The precious metal sputtering target experts at DHF Technical Products can help you manage your precious metal spend so you can keep more of your working capital and increase cash flow.
Clean energy infrastructure and the demand for silver.
The conductivity and corrosion resistance of silver makes it an important component for electrodes and conductors. It is highly sought after for manufacturing EVs. As adoption of electric vehicles increases, there will be an increasing need to build out a clean energy infrastructure to power these vehicles. This means more installations of silver intensive solar panels and more storage in the form of batteries with silver electrical connections.
At DHF Technical Products, our specialty is helping silver sputtering target customers secure a steady, high-quality supply of critical materials during turbulent metal markets. If your manufacturing process depends on silver sputtering targets, now is a good time to reevaluate your future needs. Or, as we like to say, “Let’s talk targets.”
Every sputtering target has a silver lining.
An innovative, custom designed silver sputtering target is just the beginning. The precious metal experts at DHF have over a century of experience creating sputter targets that put more silver on the substrate and less working capital up front. DHF silver rotatable sputtering targets are ideal for high volume, large area coating for glass and other applications. Our target recycling program gives you fast credit on spent targets while turning around new targets in record time. Yep, even our spent targets exceed expectations.
Silver sputtering target applications.
Thin films of silver are often used as layers or coatings in the manufacturing processes of Low-Emissivity (Low-E) glass, optical products, medical devices, semiconductors, fuel cells, sensors and a variety of aerospace and automotive applications.
Glass manufacturing.
Low-E glass, manufactured with silver sputtering targets, has inspired architects to design stunning, energy efficient spaces. Low-E (aka Low-Emissivity) glass was invented to allow buildings to reflect the sun’s ultraviolet and infrared light and keep the hot sun outside while allowing beautiful, cool natural light inside.
Most Low-E glass coatings are applied in a vacuum using a magnetron-sputtering process. These coatings, which together measure around 1/500th of the thickness of a sheet of paper, give Low-E glass its unique ability to block nearly all infrared light, making it an ideal material for glass buildings in warmer climates. But Low-E glass is also ideal for cold climates. When the building’s interior is warmer than the outside, the coating works in reverse, reflecting the heat back inside.
Of the materials that make up a Low-E sputter coating, silver is essential in enhancing energy performance. In general, more layers of silver added to the coating increases the spectral selectivity of the Low-E glass. Large area planar and rotary targets made from silver are common in glass manufacturing.
Medical Devices.
Tiny amounts of silver from a sputtering target play an important role in antibiotic coating for surgical instruments, life-support devices and other medical electronics equipment. The fast-growing point-of-care test industry uses silver sputtering targets and other precious metals for innovative diagnostic tests, like blood glucose monitoring products, which are helping people get accurate, life-saving test results in minutes.
Aerospace.
Silver’s properties as a reliable conductor and connector make it ideal for use in sensors in a variety of aerospace applications and many next generation inventions. Silver sputtering deposition has helped create new possibilities and products for space exploration.
Automotive.
Silver’s properties as a reliable conductor and connector make thin films of silver and silver alloys ideal for use in sensors in a variety of automotive applications. Given silver’s exceptional reflective properties, it also plays a role in vehicle headlights, mirrors, dimming mirrors, windows, windshields and more.
Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing.
Semiconductor chips often use high purity silver sputtering targets. Requirements can range from 99.99% (4 nines or 4N) and 99.999% (5 nines or 5N) purity which are generally higher than requirements for products like solar cells or flat-panel displays.
Sensors.
A thin film of silver deposited by a sputtering target is a part of a variety of sensors in aerospace, automotive, medical devices and more.
Fuel cells.
Silver sputtering targets have been used for large area coating of fuel cells.
Optical coatings.
Silver sputter coatings can be used for a variety products including eyeglasses, sunglasses, vehicle headlights, mirrors and windows as well as optical filters in the field of laser technology.
Ag sputtering, ASAP.
DHF is a supplier of silver evaporation pellets the way Michelangelo was a painter, Shakespeare was a playwright and Mozart was a composer. In short, we’ve got supplying the finest quality silver evaporation pellets down to a science. And an art.