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Alumina Boat Crucibles: Properties, Applications, and Benefits
Alumina boat crucibles are ceramic vessels typically used in high-temperature materials processing. For many laboratory and metallurgical environments, the thermal properties of alumina make these common choices for these applications.
1. Properties
Alumina crucible boats are manufactured from high-purity aluminum oxide (Al2O3), commonly known as alumina. This material exhibits thermal stability, enabling the crucibles to withstand temperatures well over 1700°C without compromising structural integrity.
Alumina’s excellent thermal conductivity enables uniform heat distribution for processes such as sintering and annealing. Its chemical inertness prevents reactions with various molten metals and corrosive materials, maintaining purity during processing. This combination makes these ideal for applications involving reactive materials at high temperatures.
2. Applications
2.1. General Applications
The versatility of alumina boat crucibles is evident in their widespread applications across various different industries, both in research and production.
- In laboratories, these crucibles find utility in material research, thermal analysis and quality control.
- Industries such as semiconductor manufacturing use these crucibles single crystal growth.
- Metal casters and foundries use alumina to contain molten metal during casting processes
2.2. PVD Applications
In vacuum thermal evaporation, a hybrid between alumina boat crucibles and thermal evaporation sources is used to combine the properties of both elements.
- Evaporation boats: act as a source for resistive heating and heat transfer needed for vaporizing material to deposit thin films
- Alumina boat crucibles: contribute with an inert ceramic surface to minimize contamination to the evaporation material
The combined design uses an evaporation boat as a base while layering alumina coating to benefit from the properties of alumina boat crucibles. Compared to uncoated boats used in thermal evaporation, the alumina coated refractory boat improves consistency in applications where alloying between the base metal and evaporation material may occur.
Moreover, alumina can be extended to other parts of thermal evaporation processes. Typical alumina crucibles can be used alongside crucible heaters to reach vaporization temperatures. Alumina coatings can be coated onto different parts: e.g. tungsten crucibles or filaments.
Sourcing Alumina Coated Boats
R.D. Mathis Company’s alumina-coated refractory boats provide reliable performance in high-temperature deposition processes, enabling precise and consistent results in demanding applications. By applying alumina boat crucibles into thermal evaporation, these sources have thus become a standard component in many depositions processes.
The R.D. Mathis Company has wide experience with applying alumina as a coating for a significantly wide range of different parts. For specific alumina coating applications, please contact our team with more information.
