Customer Manufacturing of Grids for TEM and other Shapes and Patterns
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Introduction to the manufacturing process
We are often times asked about the custom manufacturing of new grid patterns
for specific customer applications. We would like to take some of the
mystery out of the pricing for this kind of specialized service.
There are really three separate steps required for the production of a new
grid pattern:
- Creation of the pattern in terms of camera ready art work or as a
high resolution .gif or .tiff file.
- Production of the "glass master", some times referred to as the
"photo tool" or just the "tooling" followed by some prototype samples for
evaluation.
- Commercial production of the patterns/grids from the glass master in
appropriate quantities.
Usually our customers supply us with the final art work for the grid, but
not always, and for an additional charge, we can of course produce the
needed art work on our end. The actual cost will depend on how much time we
have to spend to create the art work.
Also keep in mind that the thicker the grid, the larger will be the minimum
line width on the grid itself.
The cost to produce the glass master depends on both the complexity of the
pattern as well as the overall size of the pattern. For rough "ballpark"
figures for the purposes of estimating the cost, we normally assume that
for an "average" pattern for a 3.05 mm TEM grid, the glass master would cost
roughly $3000 to $4500. As the size of the pattern become larger, the
increase in cost is more than just being proportionate. For example, for a
pattern that had twice the area, to the first approximation, one could
expect the cost to be double that of the 3.05 mm grid. But actually, there
is a multiplier that makes is more than just proportionate. As the area
becomes larger, there is an increased risk of defects and other faults. A
square pattern of 10x10 mm, which would contain more than the area of ten
3.05 mm grids, would end up having quite a high price. In this instance
however, there are other factors that could come into play, so that the cost
of the master is not going to be ten times the $3000-$4500 price.
For the actual production, there is always some amount of set up cost that
is incurred to produce the first unit. And once set up, additional pieces
can be made at very low (relatively speaking) cost. In the case of a
3.05 mm custom designed TEM grid, on average, we would look to produce
50-100 vials of 100 grids. The actual cost would ultimately depend on
such factors as line widths and detail in the pattern, which have a major
impact on yield. Typically, the charge to produce the minimum amount of
product would be on the order of $2500.
So for someone having the need to produce their own custom TEM grid pattern,
and again, this is strictly a "ball park" estimate, one should be thinking
about a minimum cost of around $5500. For larger area patterns, one can
assume that the cost would be going up approximately proportionately with
the size of the pattern.
We would be happy to discuss our custom manufacturing services, just let us
know your requirements. At the present time, we can produce using electro
forming methods, grids and meshes in copper, nickel, and gold. We can also
produce specialized patterns in molybdenum thickness. The greater the
thickness the greater the minimum line width, for something 10 mm square
I think the minimum line width would be in the order of 20-30 microns.
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Tuesday May 13, 2008
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