Electronic components in high reliability systems must endure harsh conditions. At the same time, the IC industry evolved to thinner and lighter packaging that increases IC sensitivity to the environment and accelerates degradation.

ALD-Cap® is a flexible ceramic coating that was developed by Sundew to provide hermetic environmental protection without the need for specialty hermetic packaging used in MIL-STD ICs. ALD-Cap® passes various endurance testing and has been successfully used by the US Navy to provide low-cost replacement to hermetically packaged on-ship radar components. Sundew was honored to be recognized in 2008 by the US Navy as a “Navy Small Business Success Story” for this achievement.

ALD-Cap® coatings provide barrier performance that surpasses high-quality alternative conformal coatings such as Parylene or CVD at reduced cost. Hermetic MIL-Standard durability is achieved with a coating thickness as low as 200 nm, and process-temperatures as low as 125° C.

“Raytheon utilized an ALD tool that was manufactured by Sundew Technologies … The ALD FETs had a much lower failure rate than the original SiN FETs. Failure rates this low in a HAST test extrapolate to 100’s of years of operation under worst-case natural conditions for ALD MMICs.”