At INFICON EDC we believe quality starts at the beginning, therefore we use cultured quartz produced in our 30,000 square foot facility located in Overland Park, Kansas. Our facility has been designed to meet the unique needs of quartz processing by separating the Crystal Preparation and Assembly Departments.

    We begin by cutting the quartz bars into wafers using state-of-the-art slurry saws designed with stroke, pressure and abrasive flow controls. The wafers are cut into what are commonly called blanks and through a variety of processes are lapped, rounded, orientated and/or contoured, depending on product and customer specifications.

    When required for performance over temperature specifications, blanks are categorized by angle using computer controlled X-ray machines for greater accuracy and repeatability. High frequency lapping and polishing are the final processes prior to the Assembly Department.

    The assembly processes for crystals and oscillators consist of three consecutive modern clean rooms connected with product pass-throughs which allow total environmental control from cleaning and etching through the hermetic sealing process.

    The cleaning and etching process is performed with in-house designed and fabricated equipment for exact process control. We maintain our own controlled water system to insure its purity throughout the process. At INFICON EDC we are environmentally aware and treat our wastewater before returning it to the municipal system. We are extremely proud of our Gold Awards from the State of Kansas Environmental Department.

    Metal deposition, commonly referred to as base platting, is computer controlled to insure proper vacuum levels, side-to-side and total metal disposition. Single and dual metal deposition is performed during a single vacuum cycle. We have the ability to plate with a variety of metals to meet the needs of our products application.

    Plated quartz blanks are mounted in a variety of holder types and cemented in place with conductive cement. Final cleaning and vacuum bake-out is available prior to final frequency adjustment.
    
    Final frequency adjustment is performed, utilizing a variety of metals, in computer-controlled vacuum plating systems. With final frequency achieved, the product is hermetically sealed in a controlled environment. All sealing is 100% verified by helium mass spectroscopy.

    A variety of post seal testing is performed depending on product type, specifications and customer application. Any mechanical operation, such as lead cutting, bending or forming, third leads and laser or ink marking is performed before the finished product is presented to Quality Assurance for shipping approval.