Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Morgan Advanced Ceramics | Subject: Ceramics
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 21 October 2003
Ceramics precision aids antenna
manufacturer
Morgan Advanced Ceramics is applying its materials and metallising expertise to the development of the next generation of mobile phone antennas.
Morgan Advanced Ceramics is applying its materials and metallising expertise to the development of the next generation of mobile phone antennas The company has been supporting customer Sarantel, a leading miniature antenna specialist, in the development of the ceramic materials and production techniques required to produce the antennas in volume
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 20 May 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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However, it is within the mobile phone market that Sarantel believes its PowerHelix range can be of most benefit.
Under E-911 Legislation in the USA it will soon be mandatory for GPS receivers to be built in to mobile phone handsets, so that the technology can be used to help emergency services respond more effectively to distress calls.
Sarantel also sees 3G mobile and Wi-Fi networks as key growth markets.
The continuing debate over the health implications of using mobile phones is another market driver.
International safety regulations defined in terms of the specific energy absorption rate (SAR) encourage optimisation of the ratio of radiated power versus absorbed power in the user head.
One of the strictest SARs has been set by China, a huge potential market.
Sarantel's patented PowerHelix antenna design significantly reduces the losses of current that can cause an incident magnetic field at the user's skin.
In order to develop the design for the mobile phone market, Sarantel needed a partner with materials expertise who could help them develop a microwave ceramic to meet their specification.
They were assisted by Morgan, whose materials experts helped to identify a specific ceramic that enables the manufacture of antennas which yield just five per cent of the radiation emitted by other systems.
Morgan also manufactures the ceramic so that it has the optimum surface finish for deposition of the copper bands that give Sarantel's PowerHelix antennas their name.
Morgan has spent the last 24 months refining the production techniques necessary to guarantee process stability and a consistent end product at high volumes.
Sarantel specified that Morgan should achieve tolerances within +/-0.01mm.
Morgan Advanced Ceramics is consistently within these parameters.
Full volume production is scheduled for 2004.
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