NovaCentrix Introduces the PulseForge 1200 R&D Photonic Curing Tool

NovaCentrix, a leader in printed electronics manufacturing technologies, announced pre-orders are now being accepted for the newest photonic curing tool, the PulseForge 1200.

The NovaCentrix photonic curing tools achieve high-temperature processing on low-temperature materials. The new PulseForge 1200 is a low cost photonic curing tool designed specifically for lab use. This latest addition to the PulseForge family of photonic curing tools will be demonstrated at the Printed Electronics USA event Dec. 5-6 in Santa Clara, CA, with units available to ship this calendar year.

The PulseForge 1200 is optimized for use in materials and applications development in laboratories and development centers. It is built as a single integrated module to minimize the total foot-print for use in smaller spaces. Even though it is more compact and low cost, the PulseForge 1200 retains the state-of-the-art process configurability that is found in the larger PulseForge tools, including use of the same lamps.

“It is important for our customers that the 1200 provide the same range of materials processing as the PulseForge 3200 tools, even though it is smaller and has a lower price point,” said Stan Farnsworth, vice president of marketing. “This level of capability means that customers of the 1200 will know that the materials and applications processing developed using the 1200 will translate directly to the full-size PulseForge tools for larger-scale pilot and production use.”

Key capabilities and features of the new PulseForge 1200 include:
• Ability to dry and sinter depositions in excess of 20 microns thick.
• User-selected pulse lengths from 25 to 10,000 microseconds, in 1-microsecond increments.
• User-selected time between pulses as low 20 microseconds, in 1-microsecond increments.
• Ability to create custom, composite pulse structures with high precision and accuracy.
• User-selected pulse power and energies.
• High-accuracy reflector optics for exceptional (>98%) uniformity.
• Next-generation touch-screen user interface.
• Water-cooled lamps.
• Automated, synchronized sample processing stage with multiple operating modes.

In addition to the patented photonic curing technology, the PulseForge 1200 also has NovaCentrix’s patent-pending synthetic pulse capability for superior curing. Combined with NovaCentrix’s integrated SimPulse thermal stack simulation package for predicting the time-temperature history of each layer in a thin film stack during photonic curing, the PulseForge 1200 comprises the ideal R&D platform for photonic curing development.