When do I need to put a second activation tab on my NanoFoil® design?
Frequently, in my role as a Technical Support Engineer, I am asked questions to which I may not immediately have an answer. Luckily, Indium Corporatio...
Nanofoil
Microwave Activation for NanoFoil®?
We recently worked with a company called Lambda Technologies who has helped by providing a new solution to activating NanoFoil®: microwaves. ...
Ronnie Spraker and the World’s Only NanoFoil®/NanoBond® Production Team
Ronnie Spraker is the supervisor of our NanoFoil® production department. Everyday, Ronnie and his team make reactive foils that are used all over ...
Panning for Gold
Panning for gold is a thrill, just like scratching off a lotto ticket or playing a game at a casino. In a similar way, I am looking for gold every tim...
NanoFoil® for LED Manufacture
NanoFoil® is especially well-suited for bonding LED packages. Here are some characteristics of the NanoBond® Process that fit high v...
NanoFoil® Project Management with Seth Homer
In an interview with Seth Homer (our Asst. Product Manager for Engineered Solders and NanoFoil®), we discuss how an interested customer can partne...
Undiscovered: The Best New Use Of NanoFoil®
I’m still searching for the best use of NanoFoil®. Our customers have used it for LED and CPV die-attachment, sputtering target bonding, bat...
NanoFoil®: Protecting electronic components everywhere!
We have all seen the action movies where the hero drops in at the last minute to save the day against insurmountable odds. NanoFoil® is like...
Nanotechnology Can Be Simple
An unfortunate misconception about nanotechnology is that it needs to be cutting-edge technology. This is most likely a manufactured perception, creat...
Another Important NanoFoil® Application Note
In a somewhat recent post, I mentioned that my favorite NanoFoil® application note was “NanoBond® of Ceramic and Metal Sputtering Target...
We Use NanoFoil®
One of our most demanding customers is … the Indium Corporation! While we supply the world with NanoFoil®, we also use a large amount for t...
NanoFoil® for CPV Attachment
The attachment of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells is the perfect application for NanoFoil®. Due to the isolated heating during bonding, less...
Sn-Plated NanoFoil® Activation Kits
We’ve heard your requests and are now offering Sn-plated NanoFoil® activation kits. (Check out the product page here.) These kits are perfec...
Annealing NanoFoil®
NanoFoil®requires a threshold of energy to activate. What happens if that energy value is not met?: Interdiffusion and inhibition of the NanoBond&...
Die Cutting NanoFoil®, High Volume Part Singulation
Here at Indium Corporation we use punch presses to die cut NanoFoil® for our NanoFoil® research kits. We use this equipment to singulate the m...
NanoFoil® Scrap Handling Suggestions
Let’s start with a bit of fiction to get us on the same page… Mike is working with NanoFoil®, getting ready to bond a small, round, p...
NanoFoil® Cracking
I recently noticed something that appeared in a 3rd party lab report that a customer shared with me. This lab report was an analysis of a NanoBond®...
Thermal conductivity of NanoFoil®
A NanoBond® acts like a traditional solder bond in many ways. After reaction, the bulk properties of NanoFoil® are similar to that of many sol...
Packaging NanoFoil® Preforms
NanoFoil® can be packaged in tape & reel, bulk containers, or waffle packages. Here are the main advantages of each type of packaging: Tape &a...
DIY: Applying Solder to Molybdenum, Titanium, and Tungsten (Ultrasonic Soldering)
There are many sputtering target materials that are tricky to solder to. For those alloys we ‘bring out the big guns’ – in this case...
DIY: Applying Solder to Copper, Nickel, and Platinum (Flux)
In order to NanoBond® parts that are made out of copper, nickel, or platinum, we must first apply solder to the bonding surface. This......
DIY: Applying Solder to Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys (Scrubbing)
Aluminum is a very common material to bond to, although it is a little tricky to solder to with traditional methods. The method that we......
DIY: Connecting NanoFoil®
Sometimes one piece of NanoFoil® just isn’t enough… We often NanoBond® sputtering targets which are large enough to require multi...
DIY: Determining What NanoFoil® You Have On Hand
If you have some NanoFoil® on hand at your facility and you do not have the original packaging, all hope is not......
DIY: Hand Cutting NanoFoil®
Hand cutting is only one option for shaping NanoFoil®, however it is quick, easy, and inexpensive. All you need to......
DIY: Immersion Tin Plating Copper Substrates
One of our customers discovered a little trick to save some time and avoid having his parts sent out for tin plating. At a......
DIY: Electroplating NanoFoil®
A few years back, Indium Corporation’s own Eric Bastow set up a prototype NanoFoil® plating process to demonstrate the material and......
NanoFoil® Do-It-Yourself Tips and Tricks
Using NanoFoil®can be very easy, and there are many things you can do yourself to make prototyping or production easier, save money, and get the r...
NanoFoil® and Personal Safety
You’d imagine that a material which can reach 1,500°C instantly should be treated with caution, and it should, but NanoFoil® is a lot sa...
NanoFoil® as a Thermal Interface Material
NanoFoil® has many uses, and, sometimes, it has more than one function in an application. For instance, if tin coated NanoFoil® is......
Sn-plated NanoFoil®
Tin-coated NanoFoil® is not one, but two very different products, combined. It is a heat source and a form of solder. In the world of interconnect...
My Favorite NanoBond® Application Note
We commonly receive questions like: “Can NanoFoil® be used to bond silicon?” or, “What surface flatness do I need to NanoBo...
Wave Propagation of NanoFoil®
The NanoBond® reaction is activated at one or more points and travels throughout the material. It really is pretty interesting to watch, but you w...
Heat Dissipation During a NanoBond® Reaction
One of the best parts of using NanoFoil® to create a bond with dissimilar metals or heat sensitive components is that the heat it creates is quick...
Heat Penetration During a NanoBond® Reaction
One of the great reasons to use a localized heating method like NanoBonding is to make sure the entire assembly is not heated – only the......
Optical Activation of NanoFoil®
Lasers and fiber optic waveguides can be used to activate NanoFoil®. Why would you want to use a laser to do this? br......
NanoFoil® X and Y Dimensions
The easiest way to have NanoFoil® parts customized for your NanoBond® application is to let us cut them for you. There are......
Choosing the Best Metallization for your NanoBond® Application
Since the NanoBond® process is almost instantaneous, fluxes are not used. (They just don’t have enough time to heat up to their activation t...
NanoFoil® Thickness
NanoFoil® is available in various thicknesses to suit different applications. In each variation, the thickness of each Aluminum and Nickel bi-laye...
First Visible Light LED Turns 50!
It is hard to believe, but 50 years ago, on October 9th, the first visible light LED was demonstrated by Nick Holonyak, Jr. of GE Advanced......
Flat Surfaces for the NanoBond® Soldering Process
As mentioned in a separate post, uniform pressure across a NanoBond® interface is critical for maximum solder bond strength. Uniform pressure is m...
The NanoBond® Process
To successfully use NanoFoil®, you do not need to fully understand what it is or how it is made, although that does help. It also makes for a...