Breakthrough in PVD Parts Cleaning

New Technology for Chemical Deposition Removal

Materion is offering a new service to customers who use precious and non-precious metals for physical vapor deposition (PVD). The breakthrough technology provides a unique method for removal of deposition material from chamber parts. Our chemists have developed this copper parts cleaning process as an alternative to more traditional cleaning methods. 

The innovative cleaning approach chemically removes deposition materials and surface contaminants from copper without the use of aggressive mechanical processes. This technology is a huge advancement over conventional means. It offers multiple advantages including minimizing surface damage, extending the useful life of expensive copper parts, achieving higher metal returns, and lowering total cost of ownership for customers.  

Cleaning Copper Parts

Physical vapor deposition is a process that coats products with thin layers of precious or non-precious metal. During PVD, the vacuum chamber and surrounding components are impacted and become coated with depositions such as gold, titanium, nickel, copper, platinum or other high-value metals.  In order to recover as much valuable metal deposition as possible for the customer, several methods can be employed. Mechanical removal, while generally employed, is not recommended for copper parts as it can harm the underlying copper. Other traditional Materion chemical removal methods, such as those used to remove gold from stainless steel, are not suitable as they would attack the copper part surface.

Therefore, to solve the problem of potential harm from these methods, Materion invented an alternative chemical process specifically designed to remove precious metal from copper without damage. Since shield kit parts, such as those used in PVD evaporation processes, are frequently made of copper due to the need for excellent thermal conductivity, this new cleaning method offers a superior solution.

Tailored to Customer’s Needs

To maximize effectiveness, our chemical cleaning method is tailored toward the customer’s particular deposition and/or substrate material. CMM inspection ensures parts comply with their specifications. In addition, customized surface treatments and part texturization after cleaning are also available.

This new copper parts cleaning technology and other traditional precision parts cleaning processes are offered at all of our worldwide cleaning locations. Materion has more than 85 years of experience in precious metal refining, recycling and recovery. For more information, please contact Matthew Waz, Product Manager - Precision Parts Cleaning, at Matthew.Waz@Materion.com.