Boron Nitride

A machinable ceramic, Boron Nitride (BN) can be machined into close tolerance, complex parts which, after machining, are ready to use without heat treatment or firing. Boron Nitride is most commonly produced as a hot pressed solid which orients during pressing, yielding a hexagonal and platy crystal structure. The resulting material properties are anisotropic, relative to the pressing direction. In fact, the material properties can vary significantly, relative to the direction of pressing and the grade of material.

Boron Nitride can also be produced by a vapor deposition process, yielding high purity pyrolytic material. Pyrolytic Boron Nitride is highly anisotropic in both mechanical and electrical properties.

Pyrolytic Boron Nitride and hot pressed Boron Nitride solids possess unique properties which enable them to solve application problems, problems that are otherwise not solvable when using conventional materials.

TEMPERATURE

Resists temperatures up to 2000°C in inert and reducing atmospheres and resists temperatures up to 985°C in oxidizing atmospheres.

THERMAL

Outstanding thermal properties. Boron Nitride has high thermal conductivity with low thermal expansion and also has unsurpassed thermal shock resistance.

DIELECTRIC STRENGTH

Boron Nitride has a dielectric strength of nearly 2300 volts per mil, making it an excellent low loss insulator. It is also transparent to microwaves; its low loss, combined with excellent thermal conductivity, results in a machined component that can handle high power and high frequency applications.

Mica-Tron Products Corp. machines a full spectrum of Boron Nitride materials, including pyrolytic Boron Nitride. We have the experience, equipment and facilities required to machine Boron Nitride components without the risk of contamination from coolants, oils, and improper handling. This level of expertise is not normally available in conventional job shop environments. Our capabilities include CNC turning, CNC milling, and CNC grinding of Boron Nitride materials.

Mica-Tron Products Corp. has the capability of machining Boron Nitride to extremely tight tolerances. As an example, we routinely grind 300 mm diameter X 9 mm thick BN wafers, flat and parallel to within .008 mm. Our part size capabilities include micromachining to parts which are the size of the largest blanks of Boron Nitride currently available.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS

• Extreme temperature environments
• Extreme thermal shock requirements
• Vacuum melting and vapor deposition
• Glass forming tools
• Microwave windows and fixtures
• Jigs and fixtures in furnaces
• Induction heating components
• Insulators
• Crucibles