Insulator Seal Inc. (ISI)
Ceramic to Metal Seals
In the vacuum components industry there can be few more specialized technologies than the production of ceramic to metal seals. Ceramic to metal seals, the bonding of metals to ceramics, are fundamental to the manufacture of thousands of components in applications where electricity and optics must interface with high and ultrahigh vacuum environments. Insulator Seal Inc. (ISI) was founded in the late Seventies by a small core of engineers with the single aim of providing leading edge solutions to the growing range of Ceramic-to-Metal seal applications. In a relatively short period of time, ISI has attained a global reputation for high quality manufacturing and fast delivery of thousands of electrical and optical vacuum parts and fittings.
ISI scientists, engineers and technicians have been perfecting the science and art of ceramic-to-metal bonding for over twenty years. Using time tested proprietary vacuum bonding techniques and advanced vacuum brazing systems ISI provides the scientific and industrial vacuum community with ceramic-to-metal products of unsurpassed quality and performance. Over the past two decades ISI has assembled the industry’s most comprehensive line of hermetically sealed electrical and optical ceramic-to-metal components. A closely monitored inventory allows them to meet customer expectations of fast delivery to national and global destinations.
The sealing and bonding process begin with the careful specification, selection, testing and qualification of vacuum grade materials to be used in the design and manufacturing of all ISI ceramic-to-metal products. A proprietary active-alloy metallization process is at the heart of all seal production. High purity alumina ceramics are routinely bonded and sealed to low expansion metals in vacuum furnace environments using precious and semiprecious high temperature vacuum tube-grade braze alloys. This method of fabrication produces products suitable for service in UHV applications and thermal cycling as high as 450°C.
Some of the products available from Insulator Seal include a complete line of thermocouple feedthroughs, single and double-ended multi-pin instrumentation feedthroughs, an extensive selection of industry standard coaxial instrumentation and power feedthroughs, high frequency RF power feedthroughs with patented cooling geometry, electrical breaks suitable for cryogenic service, VacOptix® patented viewports for deep ultraviolet and far infrared optical applications as well as custom engineered products for exotic or demanding applications. The ISI division is staffed with sales, design and manufacturing engineers dedicated exclusively to the promotion, production and support of standard ceramic-to-metal solutions for high and ultrahigh vacuum. Their staff can also handle custom solution inquiries which go beyond the standard catalogue offerings.
ISI attained ISO-9001 certification in August of 1998 to better serve its customers and the industries they serve. The care taken in every aspect of manufacturing is carried all the way down the line, even to the double-packing of each component for maximum protection during transit.
ISI has established itself as a world leader in the manufacture of Electrical & Optical ceramic-to-metal components for Vacuum science & technology.
View the ISI website for more information on their range of ceramic to metal seals.
