Exotic and All Other Materials Lapped, Polished, and Diced
Valley Design specializes in precision lapping, polishing, and dicing of a wide range of exotic and other materials, including ceramics, metals, optical glasses, and semiconductors. This expertise enables the production of ultra-thin, ultra-flat, and tightly toleranced components for industries such as aerospace, medical devices, and power generation.
Exotic materials are a type of materials known for their exceptional properties, often surpassing those of traditional materials in strength, durability, and resistance to tough conditions. The word “exotic” does not mean rarity but highlights their high strength and hardness. Exotic materials usually need specialized manufacturing methods and can be more expensive and harder to find than common metals like aluminum or steel.
Typical applications of exotic materials include:
- Aerospace (advanced aircraft, engines, and spacecraft)
- High-Tech Industries (any application that demands durability, precision, and wear resistance)
- Medical Devices (implants and surgical instruments)
- Oil and Gas (pipelines and processing plants)
- Power Generation (nuclear reactors, gas turbines)
As a leader in precision materials processing for 50 years, Valley Design has extensive experience in lapping, polishing, dicing, and CNC micro-machining of a wide range of materials, including exotic materials, across various industries and applications. Valley Design processes numerous semiconductor, optical, and electro-optic materials.
Valley Design’s expertise allows them to handle a broad spectrum of hard and soft materials, which includes:
- 96%, 99.5% and 99.6% Alumina
- Aluminum Nitride (AlN)
- Borosilicate Glass
- Ceramics
- Ferrites
- Fused Quartz and Single Crystal Quartz
- Fused Silica (Si02)
- Germanium
- InP
- LiF
- Macor
- Metals (Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Copper, Titanium)
- Molybdenum
- Optical Glass (B270, D263, Eagle XG, Gorilla Glass, Supremax Glass, Xensation Glass)
- Polarcor
- Polyimide and PEEK
- Pyrex 7740 and Borofloat
- Sapphire (R-plane, C-plane, A-plane)
- Silicon
- Silicon Carbide
- Soda Lime Glass
- Steatite
- ZnS, ZnSe
Valley Design stocks a wide selection of these materials. Semiconductor and optical materials are available in various forms, including SEMI-standard wafers ranging from 2-inches to 450mm in diameter, as well as custom parts of nearly any size. Our specialized capabilities include ultra-thin materials (as thin as 10 μm for some types), ultra-flat surfaces with a 1/10 wave accuracy, super polishing that achieves less than 10/5 scratch/dig, tight tolerances of ±0.5 μm, and a TTV of 0.5 μm. We can handle sizes from as small as 0.127mm square to lapping and polishing parts as large as 64 inches.
For solutions to your complex technological needs, partner with the company that has consistently led innovation, developing the processes and techniques now standard in manufacturing substrates and components for MEMS and many other applications. Reach out to us online or call 978-425-3030. Let’s create something exceptional together!