Introduction

Alpha Ceramics was founded in December 1999, later  it acquired the assets of the Aura Ceramics Center formerly Honeywell.  Today, Alpha Ceramics is a leading producer of high performance piezoelectric materials such as PLZT - lead lanthamum zirconium titanate, and PZT - lead zirconium titanate.

Flexible Production Capabilities

Alpha Ceramics manufacturing facility, located in Minnesota, is able to produce a wide range of ferroelectric, piezoelectric, electrostrictive, and electro-optic materials of unparalleled performance and consistency.  Special, high-density fine grain materials are available when electrical, mechanical characteristics properties are needed.  With all of Alpha Ceramics materials, the manufacturing process are tailored and then precisely controlled to achieve the desired properties.  Both low and high volumes production runs can be made.

A World of Applications

Alpha Ceramics provides precision piezoelectric ceramics for a variety of high performance applications.  Alpha's materials meet the most challenging specifications including those for ring laser gyroscopes, medical ultrasonics, Navy sonobuoys, micropositioning actuators, sonar transducers, monitors, and fast switching optical devices.  Many materials, which were originally developed to satisfy strict military standards, are now available for commercial use for the most demanding commercial, industrial, medical, automotive, and government applications.

Alpha Ceramics, in addition to standard industry practices, has the capability to vacuum hot press hard and soft materials when precision machining or high mechanical reliability is required.  All materials are shaped to form for the application.

Quality Materials

Alpha Ceramics provides precision piezoelectric ceramics for high performance applications.  Our materials meet the most challenging of specifications including those for ring laser gyroscopes, medical ultrasonics, sonobuoys, high-displacement actuators, sonar transducers, and fast switch lenses.  Many materials, which have been developed to satisfy military standards, are now available for commercial use. 

Alpha produces a broad range of materials typically using the lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and the lanthanum modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) systems.  Most of these materials can be modified to meet the exact needs of each specific application.  Our compositions, representing a broad range of properties, fall into 5 different classes: (1) hard piezoelectrics (Kxxx) for high drive conditions; (2) soft piezoelectrics (Cxxx) for high sensitivity; (3) electrostrictives for high displacement; (4) electro-optic materials (Eoxxx) for solid-state shutters and displays; and (5) special piezoelectrics whose characteristics are mixed.  Alpha vacuun hot presses hard and soft materials when precision machining or high mechanical reliability are required.  All materials are shaped into final form for the application. 

5 Classes Of Active Ceramics

• Hard (PZT): Well suited for applications requiring stability under high electric fields or high mechanical loads, hard PZTs are commonly used in U.S. Navy sonar projectors and ultrasonic cleaning.  K1450, with generally higher piezoelectric constants, will be of special interest to the design engineer.
   
• Soft (PZT): Soft PZTs have high piezoelectric constants and high permitivities.  These materials are suitable for sensor and actuator applications such as medical diagnostics, micropositioning, hydrophones, and speakers.  C3900 is unique in Alpha’s family of soft materials by offering a combination of extremely high displacement and permitivity that makes it a good candidate for ultrasonic medical transducers and micoractuators.
   
• Electro-Optic (PLZT): Materials in the PLZT system possess electro-optic characteristics.  Polished thin sections, coated to minimize reflection losses, are highly transparent.  Some compositions exhibit greater than 98% transmission.  Electroded PLZT wafers bonded between crossed polarizers form very fast optical shutters with a contrast ratio of 10,000 to 1 that can be switched in less than 20 microseconds.  Other applications include light modulators, color filters, image storage, and image displays.
   
• Electrostrictive: Electrostrictive materials exhibit a displacement proportional to the square of the applied field.  Alpha produces these materials in the PLZT and lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) phase diagrams.  High displacements (>0.1% at 10kV/cm) qualify them for actuator applications.
   
• Special: These materials have high voltage constants, desirable for applications such as power sources and sensors.  Their high transverse and planar frequency constants are useful for ultrasonic delay lines.