Delicate Materials. Demanding Processes. Zero Room for Error.
Optical and photonic components—whether made of sapphire, fused quartz, barium titanate, or polycarbonate—require extreme precision in grinding, lapping, polishing, and cleaning. These materials are brittle, sensitive to thermal and mechanical stress, and highly variable in their physical characteristics.
Barium titanate, calcium and magnesium fluoride, germanium, lithium niobate and tantalate, fused quartz, ruby, sapphire and zinc compounds are only a partial list of the optical materials in use today. Ceramic materials include aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum titanium carbide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, etc.
Manufacturers must also balance throughput, surface quality, and cost-efficiency—all while keeping pace with evolving materials and industry demands.
Precision Chemistries for Every Stage of Your Process
Intersurface Dynamics provides a complete suite of process chemicals tailored for the unique demands of optical and photonic materials—from sapphire, fused quartz, and ceramics to polycarbonate and high-index plastics. Whether you’re working in ophthalmics, flat panel displays, solar, or advanced photonic devices, our chemistries are formulated for performance, consistency, and cleanliness.
Precision Optics & Ceramics
From sapphire and fused quartz to barium titanate and silicon carbide, optical and ceramic components must be processed with extreme care. These materials are often brittle, hard to polish, and highly sensitive to thermal and mechanical stress.
The equipment and processes used to manufacture components and devices from a variety of optical, piezoelectric and ceramic materials must be precise yet flexible. Barium titanate, calcium and magnesium fluoride, germanium, lithium niobate and tantalate, fused quartz, ruby, sapphire and zinc compounds are only a partial list of the optical materials in use today. Ceramic materials include aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum titanium carbide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, etc.
Once an optical component or ceramic device is rough-formed or grown, it goes through any number of processes, including edge grinding, surface grinding, I.D. or O.D. sawing and dicing, lapping, polishing, cleaning and coating. The result is a high-quality finished part used in satellite-based optics, laser components, armor plating and other critical technology applications. Intersurface Dynamics manufactures the coolants/lubricants needed for the high-speed, automated and highly precise processes used to produce these parts and components.
IDI Solutions:
- Water-based lapping and polishing vehicles that deliver smooth, defect-free finishes
- Coolants and lubricants for high-speed grinding, cutting, and dicing
- Detergents that remove residues without damaging substrates
Typical applications:
satellite optics, laser components, armor plating, and piezoelectric devices
Opthalmics
Ophthalmic lens laboratories face growing consumer demand for value-added features such as progressive bifocal and trifocal lenses; thin-profile, high index and aspheric lenses; and lenses with anti-reflective and anti-scratch coatings.
With this rising demand for progressive lenses, anti-scratch coatings, and high-index materials, ophthalmic labs face a complex mix of substrates and coatings—all of which require gentle yet effective processing.
The trend in lens materials has also moved from glass to polycarbonate, hard resins and high-index plastics. Although these materials are lighter than glass, they offer significantly better impact resistance. However, as they scratch more easily than glass, many require hard coatings. Typical lens manufacturing processes include the following: generating/grinding; fining/polishing; edge grinding and cleaning prior to coating.
IDI Solutions:
- Synthetic grinding fluids for lens generation
- Slurries and additives for fine polishing of soft or coated lenses
- Ultrasonic and manual cleaning solutions that prep lenses for coating adhesion
Advanced Photonic Devices & Specialty Glass
Cutting-edge photonics demand flawless finishes on increasingly exotic materials. These components are often small, complex in shape, and highly sensitive to contaminants.
From LiNbO₃ modulators to wafer-level photonic components, the line between photonics and semiconductor manufacturing continues to blur. Today’s photonic devices often rely on the same ultra-flat substrates, high-purity chemistries, and process controls used in advanced semiconductor fabrication.
Silicon wafers with multicolored reflective surfaces exemplify the intersection of advanced materials and thin-film interference coatings—common in advanced photonic and semiconductor devices—where precise surface flatness, material compatibility, and contamination control are critical to device performance.
IDI Solutions:
- Custom-formulated slurries and additives for sapphire, silicon carbide, lithium niobate, tantalate, and germanium
- High-purity detergents that support post-polish cleaning, coating, and bonding
- Process development support for integrated photonic and electronic components
Flat Panel Displays
As glass substrates become thinner and larger, the need for flatness, surface uniformity, and cleanliness is greater than ever—especially with high rejection rates in large LCD panel manufacturing.
Since manufacturers of large LCDs often reject up to 40 percent of the panels that come off the assembly line, process advancements – many related to application-specific chemicals – are essential to the industry’s future success in terms of bigger, more affordable displays. Intersurface Dynamics has a variety of products designed to enhance the manufacture of both the display glass and the liquid crystal display (LCD) component of a flat panel display.
The processes used to make a flat, ultra-smooth LCD display glass include cleaning, edge grinding or beveling and polishing. The use of thin-film transistors (TFTs) is the dominant technology in the manufacture of active-matrix LCDs, although that technology continues to evolve as the size of the glass substrate continues to increase.
IDI Solutions:
- Polishing additives for ultra-smooth LCD glass surfaces
- Low-foam, low-residue spray cleaning detergents
- Support for TFT-based technologies and evolving display formats
Flat Glass & Mirror
Whether for architectural, lab-grade, or decorative use, mirror and flat glass components demand flawless clarity and coating compatibility. Surface prep is key for quality and throughput.
Polishing is often performed to achieve a highly flat, uniform or glossy surface with low surface roughness. Final step specialty coatings, such as anti-glare coatings, color tinting or the special reflective coatings designed for mirrors used in technical and laboratory applications, require an ultra-clean glass surface for optimal adhesion, and call for cleaning processes ranging from ultrasonic to manual cleaning. Intersurface Dynamics manufactures a complete range of products designed to increase the efficiency of flat glass and mirror processing applications in terms of throughput, quality and, where applicable, tool life.
Flat glass sheets often go through secondary processing steps to make them suitable for specific uses. Shape and size are determined using cutting tools edged with diamond or other abrasives. Drilling and countersinking are performed to create holes, while edge grinding and beveling are done to create rounded or beveled edges for decorative effect.
IDI Solutions:
- Coolants for grinding, cutting, and edge beveling
- Polishing compounds that deliver a flat, glossy finish
- Aqueous cleaners that prep surfaces for coating and bonding
Solar
High-efficiency solar wafers are made from cast multi-crystalline or grown mono-crystalline silicon ingots. The process starts by cropping the ends of the ingots using annular or reciprocating saws. Next, the ingots are squared into blocks using abrasive sawing. Modern squarers use diamond-coated wire with specialized coolant, cutting processing time in half and producing less waste than older systems, which used silicon carbide slurry.
After squaring, the block edges are beveled with a diamond grinding wheel to prevent chipping. The beveled blocks are then mounted on beams and sliced into thin wafers using a wire saw with silicon carbide slurry. The wafers are rinsed to remove most residue, then demounted and cleaned using ultrasonic and spray equipment.
Clean wafers are either sold as-is or kept for further processing such as texturing or etching. These wafers are eventually turned into photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into electricity. A number of application-specific chemicals can be used throughout these steps to improve cleanliness, reduce defects, and increase overall production yields.
IDI Solutions:
- Coolants for squaring and wire sawing
- Slurries that protect fragile wafer edges during thinning
- Ultrasonic cleaners that ensure residue-free surfaces
Collaborate with our experts to tailor a solution for your exact process
We offer a wide range of proven surface chemistry products—but we’re equally invested in working with customers to develop new, customized solutions tailored to address new material types, integration challenges, or process innovations.
IDI can assist with method development for preparing wafer surfaces for:
- Downstream processing
- Wafer to wafer bonding
- Epitaxy
- Processes requiring ultra low surface roughness
Projects IDI can assist with:
- Unmet consumable technology needs
- POR chemistry discontinuation/obsolescence
- Importation challenges
- Consumables compliant with defense procurement restrictions
Common Applications
MADE IN THE USA
More than a supplier — we're a trusted extension of your team
IDI brings more than 40 years of hands-on experience solving real-world process challenges. Our products are manufactured in the U.S., with fast lead times, responsive support, and a collaborative approach that ensures the chemistry fits your process—not the other way around.
IDI is more than a supplier—we're a trusted extension of your team, focused on helping you solve challenges and improve results. We work closely with you to recommend, refine, or custom-develop solutions that optimize performance, reduce waste, and keep your operations running smoothly.
Get the Right Chemistry for Your Process
We specialize in application-specific solutions—tailored to your materials, process, and performance goals. Whether you need help selecting the right product or developing a custom formulation, our experts are here to help.
Intersurface Dynamic’s Bethel, CT manufacturing facility is ISO-9001:2015 registered. This commitment to quality combined with our advanced manufacturing techniques has produced a record of reliable and timely service for for our customers.
Expert Solutions, Engineered for You
Specialized Solutions for Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication
Amtech Semiconductor Fabrication Solutions is a division of Amtech Systems, Inc., a global provider of equipment and materials for the semiconductor industry. This segment supplies capital equipment and consumables used throughout the semiconductor fabrication process—including advanced packaging and electronics manufacturing—covering everything from substrate processing to final assembly.
The Intersurface Dynamics, Entrepix, and PR Hoffman brands of Amtech Semiconductor Fabrication Solutions stand out for their commitment to custom solutions — whatever the customer needs, they deliver. Beyond customization, their competitive edge lies in responsiveness emphasizing quick turnaround times to meet customer demands. Additionally, each brand operates with a deep, process-specific focus, bringing together specialists within closely related fields. This structure ensures that customers benefit from true expertise tailored to their specific manufacturing challenges.
At Amtech Semiconductor Fabrication Solutions, we empower your manufacturing process through expert collaboration. Our specialized subsidiaries—Intersurface Dynamics, PR Hoffman, and Entrepix—bring unparalleled expertise in application-specific chemicals, polishing and lapping templates, and CMP-related upgrades. As a nimble and responsive company, we excel in forming rapid partnerships, allowing us to customize solutions that address your unique challenges. Together, we enhance every critical step of your semiconductor, compound semiconductor, and substrate manufacturing processes, driving innovation and precision.
Semiconductor Substrate Manufacturing Process
Input Substrate
- Si (silicon)
- SiC (silicon carbide)
- GaN (gallium nitride)
- GaAs (gallium arsenide)
- InP (indium phosphide)
- Glass
- Sapphire
Output
Finished Wafer or Substrate
Featured Products
Get the Right Chemistry for Your Process
Tailored solutions start with a conversation. Whether you need help selecting a product or developing a custom formulation, our experts are here to help.