Psi-Tec's Electro-Optic Material Achieves Critical Testing Results

Psi-Tec Corp. of Wilmington, Del., a developer of electro-optic polymers for electro-optic devices, announced that independent laboratory tests have confirmed the thermal stability of its Perkinamine electro-optic (EO) materials at temperatures as high as 350 °C, exceeding other commercially available high-performance EO materials such as CLD-1, which exhibits thermal degradation in the range of 250 °C to 275 °C. The company said the high temperature stability of its materials eliminates a major obstacle to vertical integration of EO polymers into standard microelectronic manufacturing processes (e.g. wave/vapor-phase soldering) where thermal stability of at least 300 °C is required. In the independent tests, 10 percent material degradation (a common evaluation of overall thermal stability) did not occur until the Perkinamine material base was exposed to temperatures as high as 350 °C, as determined by thermogravimetric analysis. The company plans to introduce its materials into commercial applications such as optical interconnections, high-speed telecom and datacom modulators and military/aerospace components.