领先全球的瑞士公司QuartzCom精密石英晶体生产

瑞士的精密石英晶体生产，因为主要的日本石英制造商不再生产某些石英晶体，瑞士公司QuartzCom正在建造自己的生产线能够提供高精度的石英晶体，不仅对欧盟，而且对美国和中国。

过去，coftech购买振荡晶体用于在日本生产(VC)tcxo和其他振荡器。例如，coftech向位于瑞士Grenchen的QuartzCom提供来自日本的精密晶体。它们用于移动通信基站、雷达、测量仪器和GPS设备中的高质量振荡器。然而，高质量振荡器所需的这些石英晶体的供应在未来将会很困难。这是因为不同频率的中小批量石英生产对大型日本石英制造商不再有吸引力。为了适应高产量，例如消费品市场的需求，日本制造商已经停止生产精密石英晶体，这对他们来说不是很有利可图。
为了确保自己获得石英晶体，QuartzCom投资了一家专门生产这些石英晶体的日本家族企业。为此，瑞士公司正在建设一条新的生产线，并且已经购买了现代化的机器，目前正在安装。生产计划于今年第三季度开始。
该生产线将专注于7mm×5mm、6.0mm×3.5mm，和5.0mm×3.2mm贴片晶振的封装尺寸，这是公差非常严格的石英晶体所需要的。除AT切割外，还使用带有SC、IT或特殊切割角度的石英毛坯。-未来，QuartzCom将制造新一代“QC-MESA”型TCXO晶振。由于生产用于(VC)tcxo的IC的IC制造商AKM的生产火灾,“旧”IC停产。新一代IC对晶体的性能要求比以前更高。石英晶体，其中内部石英盘(坯件)不再是简单的平坦的并设有矩形电极，而是还具有结构、台阶和凹陷。

必须连接圆形或椭圆形电极。这些结构不是像往常一样湿法蚀刻，而是使用日本开发的磁控管等离子体工艺进行干法蚀刻。这允许增加频率稳定性、减少滞后以及消除或抑制频率跳跃(微跳跃)。困难的设计是可能的，电阻可以显著降低，Q因子可以增加，因此振荡器的短期稳定性可以提高。为了降低成本，计划充分利用产能，并向QuartzCom已经和将要合作的一些竞争对手供货。

有了这些振荡晶体，QuartzCom石英晶振可以充分利用振荡器制造中的所有元件。其中一个特点就是他们产品的振动稳定性。因此，使用QuartzCom振荡器的设备绝不会丢失GPS信号。这也适用于暴露在拖拉机强烈振动下的GPS装置。与日本生产部门的工程师一起，QuartzCom优化了石英毛坯的切割角度和尺寸。在进一步的步骤中，振荡器在恒温箱中被校准，在恒温箱中安装的集成电路被从其最终电位中取出。内部软件就是为此而开发的。现在，世界各地的公司都在使用QuartzCom的高端产品，不仅在欧盟，在中国、印度、以色列和美国也是如此。因此，QuartzCom服务于一个特殊的利基市场:中小批量生产的特殊频率的晶体和振荡器。这样，该公司保证Qscillators即使在极端条件下也能完美运行。

In the past, coftech purchased oscillating crystals for its own production of (VC)TCXOs and other oscillators in Japan. For example, coftech supplied QuartzCom, based in Grenchen, Switzerland, with precision crystals from Japan. They are used in high-quality oscillators in base stations for mobile communications, radar, measuring instruments and GPS devices. However, the supply of these quartz crystals, which are needed for high-quality oscillators, will be difficult in the future. This is because quartz production in small to medium quantities with different frequencies no longer proved attractive for the large Japanese quartz manufacturers. Geared to high volumes, such as those demanded by the consumer goods market, Japanese manufacturers have discontinued the production of precision quartz crystals, which is not very lucrative for them.

In order to secure its own procurement of the quartz crystals, QuartzCom invested in a family-run Japanese company that specializes in these very quartz crystals. To this end, the Swiss company is building a new production line and has already purchased modern machinery, which is currently being installed. Production is scheduled to start in the third quarter of this year.

The line will focus on package sizes of 7 mm × 5 mm, 6.0 mm × 3.5 mm and 5.0 mm × 3.2 mm, which are required for quartz crystals with very tight tolerances. In addition to AT cuts, quartz blanks with SC, IT or special cutting angles are also used. - In the future, QuartzCom will manufacture a new generation of TCXOs of the "QC-MESA" type. Due to the production fire at the IC manufacturer AKM, which had produced ICs for use in (VC) TCXOs, the "old" ICs were discontinued. The new generation of ICs requires more performance from the crystal than before. Quartz crystals, in which the internal quartz disk (blank) is no longer simply flat and provided with a rectangular electrode, but has structures, steps and depressions as well,

must be connected with round or oval electrodes. The structures are not wet etched as usual, but etched dry using a magnetron plasma process developed in Japan. This allows frequency stability to be increased, hysteresis to be reduced and frequency jumps (micro jump) to be eliminated or suppressed. Difficult designs are possible, the resistance can be significantly reduced, the Q-factor can be increased, and thus the short-term stability of the oscillators can be improved. To reduce costs, it is planned to fully utilize the production capacity and to supply some competitors with whom QuartzCom has entered and will enter into cooperation.

With these oscillating crystals, QuartzCom can get the most out of all components in oscillator manufacturing. One of the specialties is the vibration stability of their products. Thus, devices in which oscillators from QuartzCom are used never lose the GPS signal. This also applies to GPS units that are exposed to extremely strong vibrations in a tractor. Together with the engineers in Japanese production, QuartzCom optimizes the cutting angle and the dimensions of the quartz blank. In a further step, the oscillator is calibrated in a temperature chamber, where the installed integrated circuit is coaxed out of its final potential. In-house software was developed for this purpose. Now companies around the world are using QuartzCom's high-end products, not only in the EU, but also in China, India, Israel and the USA. QuartzCom thus serves a special niche market: crystals and oscillators for special frequencies that are manufactured in small to medium quantities. In doing so, the company guarantees that the Qscillators will function perfectly even under extreme coditions.