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[November 2002]
Furnace Provides Versatile Processing for Advanced Ceramic Materials
A sophisticated electric furnace designed and built by Lenton Thermal
Designs is providing flexible and precisely controlled thermal processing
facilities for the development of advanced ceramic materials at DuPont's UK
research centre.The furnace enables a wide variety of processes to be performed by
incorporating a press system to apply loads to samples, a gas system for
providing inert atmospheres and an air flow system which is adjustable for
temperature and volume. All functions can be controlled individually to
create many combinations of processing conditions.The equipment is used for research and processing of low-temperature
co-fired ceramic (LTCC) material, of which DuPont is one of the world's
leading producers. For example, the company's GREEN TAPE LTCC material is
used within modules for Bluetooth wireless connectivity and data
transmission.The Lenton furnace was originally designed to process GREEN TAPE which,
laminated together in multiple layers, forms the connectivity for a wide
range of circuits, including the Bluetooth modules. Use of the furnace has
since been extended into research on other materials.
ENDS