Advanced Beryllium Oxide (BeO) Ceramics and BeO Powder For Thermal Management
Materion has been manufacturing high-strength beryllium oxide ceramic materials and BeO powder for decades and we understand the unique design properties our customers need. Our Thermalox® and BW families of advanced BeO (or beryllia) offer superior levels of thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity, along with strength, reliability, and weight savings.
BeO ceramics are ideal for many applications in the medical field, including laser bores in DNA sequencers, heatsinks for defibrillators and components for flow cytometry and hematology. They also excel when used for semiconductor manufacturing, advanced defense manufacturing, energy equipment and components for wireless communications and applications that require high electrical resistivity, transparency to X-rays, or a low neutron absorption cross section.
THE ADVANTAGES OF BEO TECHNICAL CERAMICS
BeO ceramics offer many benefits over competing materials. They can be nine times more thermally conductive than aluminum oxide (Al2O3) ceramic, a commonly used alternative. Additionally, BeO has a thermal conductivity of up to 325 W/(m•K), meaning beryllia can be up to 80 percent more thermally conductive than aluminum nitride (AlN.) BeO is more chemically stable than AlN ceramic in environments containing oxidizing chemicals.
BeO ceramics provide the second highest thermal conductivity of all electrically insulating materials, exceeded only by diamonds. They are ideal for use in the medical, industrial and electronics markets.
These superior capabilities mean BeO ceramics excel in applications when product design considerations include:
- Electrical insulation combined with high thermal conductivity
- Miniaturizing the physical size of the device or enclosure
- Exposing the component to high ambient temperatures
- Airflow or liquid cooling is not possible or is prohibitively expensive
- Melting metals at very high temperatures in crucibles
THERMALOX® AND ADVANCED BEO CERAMICS
Our family of BeO advanced ceramics includes four material grades. Ranging in purity from 99.5% to 99.7%, they deliver improved performance for circuits and high heat applications and have a lower dielectric constant than AlN (6.7 versus 9.7). These materials also offer electrical resistivity and dielectric strength equivalent to competitive materials.
Thermalox 995 is our standard BeO used in electronic substrates, gas laser bores, and medical applications.
BW 1000 ceramic offers the highest flexural strength of all our beryllia grades. When small components require great strength, BW 1000 ceramic is the optimum choice. It is ideal for very small, fragile parts that will endure high levels of stress during the life cycle of the product.
BW3250 BeO ceramic offers the highest thermal conductivity of our grades at 325 W/m•K – eighty percent (80%) higher than common grades of AlN.
Thermalox CR ceramic is our high-purity BeO; at 99.7% purity, it is commonly used as a crucible material for melting high-purity materials.
Read our case study to see how the unique thermal and electrical properties of Thermalox 995 are an ideal solution for a laser manufacturing company.
|
BeO Grade |
Purity |
Flexural Strength (MOR) |
Thermal Conductivity |
Applications |
Relative Benefit |
|
Thermalox® 995 |
99.5% BeO |
221 MPa |
285 W/m•K |
Dosimeters that detect ionizing radiation in hospitals and nuclear plants; substrate material and heat sinks for electronics and semiconductor packages; gas laser bores; laser diode submounts; X-ray windows for certain applications
|
Standard, suitable for most applications |
|
BW3250® |
99.5% BeO |
207 MPa |
325 W/m•K |
Substrate material and heat sinks for electronics and semiconductor packages; gas laser bores; laser diode submounts |
Extra-high thermal conductivity |
|
BW 1000® |
99.5% BeO |
262 MPa |
275 W/m•K |
Traveling wave tubes and other defense applications; aerospace applications requiring thermal management |
Extra-high strength |
|
Thermalox® CR |
99.7% BeO |
207 MPa |
250 W/m•K |
High-temperature crucibles for melting high-purity materials; crucibles for Li-ion batteries |
Extra-high purity |
BEO POWDER FOR THERMALLY CONDUCTIVE COMPONENTS
In certain applications, our customers need beryllium oxide in a powder format so that it can be sintered into high-density ceramics. Materion manufactures two grades of beryllium oxide powder, which are used to form critical thermally conductive components for high-performance semiconductor applications, microwave devices, vacuum tubes, gas lasers and magnetrons.
We typically supply the powder in -20 mesh, dry condition, which can then be sintered into unique shapes with the properties that meet your exact need.
BeO powder is a highly uniform material that offers high thermal conductivity, great electrical insulation, and thermal conductivity.
Read our case study to see how the unique thermal and electrical properties of Thermalox 995 were an ideal solution for a laser manufacturing company.
TALK TO OUR TECHNICAL CERAMICS EXPERTS
Using our unique combination of materials forming, firing and fabrication technologies, we are can provide you with the highest quality beryllia ceramic materials. Our BeO ceramics are available dry pressed or iso-pressed, to meet your application specifications.
For more information on our advanced BeO ceramic material, talk to Materion ceramics experts.