Process Materials
for PVD &
Thin Film Deposition
KDF develops thin film material processes and product enhancements to increase yields, improve surface conditions, and maximize target utilization — all while lowering your material cost of ownership. From high-purity sputtering targets to precision bonding services, everything your process needs in one place.
Three Material Categories
KDF offers a complete suite of process materials for PVD sputtering applications — targets, backing plates, and bonding services, all manufactured to specification and shipped with full quality documentation.
Sputtering Targets
High purity metals, alloys, non-metallic materials, and cermets in a wide range of geometries — including KDF's proprietary Upsilon Inset™ targets for up to 60% utilization of precious metals like Au, Pt, Pd, and Ag.
Planar, circular, rectangular, Upsilon™, conical, ring, delta, and custom geometries. Production and R&D quantities. Full QC documentation with every order.
View Sputtering Targets →Backing Plates
KDF holds all manufacturing rights to MRC style backing plates and stocks them for immediate delivery. Custom manufactured backing plates available for unique system requirements. Manufactured on NC equipment to original specifications — dimensional tolerances and absolute reproducibility guaranteed.
Available in stainless steel, copper, and a wide variety of materials for unique applications. Compatible with all KDF and MRC cathode configurations.
View Backing Plates →Bonding Services
KDF incorporates proprietary metallic and silver-filled epoxy bonding techniques to guarantee the highest thermal conductivity, electrical properties, and adhesive characteristics — with a pre-bond sputtered barrier layer for maximum adhesion and diffusion resistance.
Indium, epoxy, and picture frame bonding (SiO₂, Pyrex, ITO). KDF is renowned for void-free, defect-free bonding with individual inspection on every assembly.
View Bonding Services →Materials for Every PVD Application
Upsilon Inset™ Targets —
Up to 60% Utilization
KDF's patented Upsilon Inset™ cathode uses a novel Υ-shaped (upsilon) target geometry engineered specifically for high thermal conductivity, high-value materials. It delivers up to 60% target utilization — more than twice the 20–30% typical of standard planar targets.
For precious metals like Gold (Au), Platinum (Pt), Palladium (Pd), and Silver (Ag) — where material cost is a significant production expense — the Upsilon Inset™ target can reduce material cost per wafer by more than half. This is a patented KDF design, available exclusively from KDF Technologies.
Upsilon Inset™ targets are sole KDF intellectual property — a patented geometry not available from any other supplier, including aftermarket target manufacturers.
- Au, Pt, Pd, Ag — precious metal targets optimized for the Upsilon Inset™ cathode
- Engineered for high thermal conductivity — essential for precious metal sputtering stability
- Dramatically reduces cost per wafer for medical, photonic, and semiconductor applications
- Available exclusively from KDF — patented IP, not replicable by any other supplier
R&D, Process Development & Characterization
KDF has a group of skilled engineers and scientists with vast knowledge of the physical vapor deposition (PVD) process and the tools used in today's marketplace. KDF has the talents and tools to deposit and characterize — with high precision — various films ranging in thickness from a few angstroms to hundreds of microns.
The R&D team at KDF carries diversified experience in all areas of thin film engineering, device fabrication, process development and characterization, and process integration. This depth is what allows KDF to offer process development services alongside materials supply — not just materials, but the expertise to make them work.
What KDF's Materials Team Delivers
Target Stocking Programs
KDF can develop and implement a target stocking program using JIT techniques — minimizing inventory investment while maximizing production capability and eliminating downtime from stock-outs.
Production & R&D Quantities
KDF's facility is configured for both high-volume production and small research quantities at competitive pricing — from full production runs to single-target R&D orders.
Full QC Documentation
Every target ships with Certificate of Conformance, material purity certificate, and MSDS where required. Packaged under vacuum or inert gas as required by the material.
Material Processing Techniques
Vacuum induction melting, hot/cold isostatic pressing, vacuum hot pressing, electron beam melting, and CNC machining — ensuring density, purity, and dimensional accuracy.
Need a Broader Range of Deposition Materials?
KDF Technologies is a Kurt J. Lesker Company — giving KDF customers access to one of the world's most extensive catalogs of deposition materials and evaporation sources. The KJLC Materials Division serves research institutions, universities, and production facilities worldwide with thousands of materials in every form factor imaginable.
Whether you need materials for a system KDF doesn't serve, evaporation sources for e-beam or thermal processes, or specialty compounds not stocked by KDF directly — the Kurt J. Lesker Company's Materials Division is the natural extension of your KDF materials supply relationship.
KJLC also offers a Precious Metals Reclaim Service — recovering value from spent sputtering targets, shields, and deposition chamber components containing Au, Pt, Pd, Ag, Ir, Rh, and Ru.
Materials for Every KDF Application
KDF process materials support thin film production across the full range of KDF's application markets — from photonics and medical devices to wear coatings and sensors.
Need Process Materials for Your KDF System?
Contact KDF with your material, geometry, and quantity requirements. We'll confirm availability, compatibility, and pricing — including Upsilon Inset™ targets for precious metal applications and bonding services for your assemblies.
