Trusted By the Industries Where
Thin Films Matter Most
KDF systems are installed across the globe — in cleanrooms, production lines, and R&D labs at some of the world's most demanding companies. From compound semiconductors to life-saving implantables, our customers share one thing: they can't afford a process that isn't right.
Companies That Rely on KDF
KDF systems are in production at organizations ranging from Fortune 500 semiconductor manufacturers to specialized medical device companies and government research programs.
And hundreds of medical device, photonics, compound semiconductor, and defense manufacturers worldwide.
If Your Process Requires Precise Thin Films, We Have a Solution
KDF systems are configured for virtually any PVD application. The industries below represent our deepest application experience — but if your market isn't listed, that's not a signal. Talk to us about your process.
Corrosion, wear, and body rejection are the defining challenges of medical device manufacturing. KDF sputtering systems are in active production at leading medical device companies depositing biocompatible and functional films on implants, surgical instruments, drug delivery systems, and optical medical devices.
Applications include diamond-like carbon (DLC) for wear resistance and osseointegration, hard biocompatible coatings protecting both implant and surrounding tissue, surface modification on surgical instruments, and optical filter coatings for imaging and diagnostics.
Hermetic sealing plays a pivotal role in the longevity of implantable devices — preventing ingress of bodily fluids, gases, and particles while remaining compatible with human tissue over decades. KDF's precision deposition enables uniform, defect-free barrier layers essential to device reliability.
Devices that depend on KDF-produced hermetic thin films:
KDF has hundreds of systems installed in the compound semiconductor sector globally — one of the deepest installed bases of any market we serve. III-V materials like GaAs, InP, and GaN present demanding process requirements: precise metallization stacks, temperature-sensitive substrates, and tight uniformity requirements across the full wafer or pallet.
KDF's inline batch architecture delivers the throughput compound semiconductor production demands, while ERPP™ and LMM™ cathode technology deliver the film quality the process requires.
Photonic and quantum devices demand film uniformity and stoichiometry control that leaves no margin for drift. KDF's Plasma Emission Monitoring (PEM) provides real-time reactive gas control for the dielectric and TCO films that define photonic device performance.
KDF systems achieve near-metallic deposition rates for SiO₂ — forming nearly 1 micron in 15 minutes vs. ~5 hours by conventional RF sputtering. KDF has also developed a negative sputter ion beam approach for depositing super-smooth ITO with highly transparent and conductive properties at near-room temperature.
Integrated passive devices and thin film circuits require the most consistent run-to-run film properties of any application — because even small variations in resistivity, thickness, or stoichiometry directly shift component values and circuit performance.
KDF's sub-1% uniformity (ERPP™), ARA target wear compensation, and PEM reactive control are the enabling technologies for this market. Batch inline throughput means production economics work without sacrificing process discipline.
KDF Technologies has a long history supplying thin film sputtering systems to the reed switch and sensing market. Modern sensors increasingly depend on sputtered thin films for their core function — from polyaniline chemical sensors to high-temperature PdCr strain gauges operating up to 1100°C, to waveguide-based optical chemical sensors.
KDF's process stability and material flexibility support the full breadth of sensing applications, from MEMS-scale devices to large-area environmental monitors.
Wear Coatings & Hard Surface Applications
HIPIMS enables highly dense, smooth, and adherent films with superior conformality — the defining requirement for protective wear coatings on cutting tools, precision components, and high-wear surfaces.
Mainstream Silicon, FPD, Solar, R&D & More
KDF systems are also deployed in mainstream silicon, flat panel display, solar, optical communications, and academic R&D environments. If your application isn't listed, contact us to discuss your process.
Trusted by NASA, Lockheed Martin & Northrop Grumman
These programs require not just process performance but full documentation, standards compliance, and quality management systems built to MIL-spec rigor. KDF's manufacturing operates under a documented MIL-spec quality system — providing the audit trail and process documentation that defense and aerospace customers require.
KDF systems meet or exceed UL, CE, and SEMI S2-0200 industry standards.
KDF Systems Are Installed Across the Globe
Production facilities, research institutions, and government programs in North America, Europe, and Asia rely on KDF inline sputtering systems for daily production.
Is Your Application on This List?
If your process involves high-value substrates, demanding film specs, or geometries that most systems can't handle — let's talk.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Our Clients
KDF systems are installed around the globe , we have hundreds of system installed in the Compound Semiconductor sector, along with Military, Medical, Solar, Photonics, and pure R&D efforts. Here is a small sample of just some of our customers.
