Custom Metal Coatings from Platypus Tech

Surface science covers a multitude of chemical and physical interactions occurring at the boundary between one phase and another. Wherever a substrate is deployed, it has been engineered with some consideration for the unique dynamics occurring at its uppermost surface layers in end-use conditions. At Platypus Technologies, we provide custom metal coatings for precision surface engineering and sub-microscopic investigations.

Why Use a Custom Metal Coating?

Consider a substrate used for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The upper atomic layers of the surface represent a solid-vacuum phase boundary which is often characterised by outgassing. This is detrimental to vacuum integrity.

Additionally, most SEMs now provide magnifications of up to 300,000x for spatial resolutions as high as 0.5 nanometres (nm). This enables the characterisation of complex surface textures with sub-microscale resolution in three dimensions. Engineers have pushed beyond the realms of traditional microscopy to uncover various chemical and physical phenomena that occur on the nanoscale. Custom metal coatings are pivotal to numerous areas of study involving increasingly small-scale phenomena.  

Our Custom Metal Coatings

At Platypus Tech, we have developed a high quality workflow for custom metal coatings based on a range of top-class processes. This is based around our prestige in electron beam evaporation in a dedicated class 10,000 cleanroom environment. By sourcing only the highest quality starter metals and committing to absolute quality, we can yield extremely uniform metal films on substrates of your choice. We guarantee this through finely controlled metal evaporation rates of 0.1 – 5 Angstroms per second.

The metals that we routinely leverage include gold, silver, platinum, nickel, and titanium. Our composite substrates involve a functional surface material deposited on top of an intermediary titanium layer which serves as an adhesive for added topographical uniformity. Increasingly, we are also working with thin copper films too.

Contact Us for Custom Metal Coatings

We supply glass slides, cover slips, and silicon wafers for an ever-growing range of application areas. Our growing customer base relies on our unmatched coating processes and our innovative approach to each and every fabrication.

If you would like to learn more about the coating thicknesses of our custom metal coatings, or want to discuss a specification use scenario, why not contact a member of the Platypus Tech team today?