Metallization adds a functional metal layer to a ceramic substrate. Depending on the design, this can form a complete electrical circuit, a solderable pad or electrode, a wire-bonding surface, or another function specific to the application. Most of what we build — PCBs, sensors, microheaters, microcircuits — depends on it in some form, which is why it sits at the center of our process, between ceramic processing and final assembly.

Thick film uses screen-printed pastes that are fired onto the ceramic. It's cost-effective, works well for multilayer circuits, and supports printed resistors. Thin film uses vacuum deposition and photolithography instead, producing finer conductor lines, tighter resistor tolerances, and specific layer or metal combinations that screen printing can't reach. We use thin film wherever a design needs that level of precision or a particular layer stack — RF and microwave circuits are a common example, though many RF and microwave designs are made successfully in thick film too.

Our most commonly used substrate materials are 96% alumina, 99.6% alumina, and aluminum nitride (AlN). We're not limited to these — depending on your application, we can also offer other ceramics such as quartz, zirconia, silicon nitride, and others. If you have a specific material in mind, let's discuss it. You'll find a list of our typical materials on our Materials page.

Yes. Double-sided metallization, with a patterned top layer and a continuous bottom layer, is a standard option. For thin film, our typical stack is a 0.1 µm chromium adhesion layer, followed by 3–10 µm of copper, with an electroless or electroplated Ni, Au, or Ni/Au finish. Other stacks and finishes are available — see the Specifications section of our Thin Film Microcircuits page for the full deposition materials table. Thick film metallization is also worth considering for many applications and can offer real advantages depending on the design.

Our standard capability is 50/50 µm for conductor width and spacing. Finer geometries may be possible depending on the specific design and production volume.

Yes — we can provide gold-finished landing pads suitable for subsequent flip-chip assembly.

For thin film, we generally manufacture double-layer metallization, with through-holes, edge interconnections, and vias as standard capabilities. Circuits with more layers are typically made using our thick film process instead. The most suitable approach depends on your technical requirements — we're happy to go through the options once we understand your design.

Both, depending on the case — but a significant part of our thick-film pastes and the glass systems we use for dielectric layers and ceramic-to-ceramic bonding are synthesized, tested, and manufactured by our own materials team. Some of these formulations have no direct commercial equivalent. Developing them ourselves means we can adjust a formulation for a specific substrate, temperature range, or reliability target without waiting on a supplier's product roadmap.

When the design needs to carry significant current without excessive resistive loss. This is typical of power modules built with IGBT, MOSFET, or SiC devices, where thick film or thin film conductor layers are not thick enough.

Laser processing typically holds positioning accuracy around ±0.05 mm, or ±0.025 mm where a design calls for tighter control. Diamond dicing offers comparable precision with clean, chip-free edges, and performs consistently whether we're cutting one prototype or a full production run.

Please send us your design and any relevant technical requirements — this lets us give specific technical feedback and recommend the most suitable manufacturing approach. It also helps to know the expected quantity. If this is a funded research project, sharing what you can about the anticipated budget, particularly for a one-time prototype run, helps us shape the most cost-effective technical solution and manufacturing route.