Security and Defence

To generate x-rays sufficient to image the interior of a cargo container, high voltage power must be supplied to the x-ray tube while maintaining a vacuum within the tube. To transmit this energy while also electrically and thermally isolating this transfer to protect surrounding portions of the tube, high-dielectric, high thermal resistance, and thermal insulating properties of ceramics are required. Morgan's ceramics are engineered to have multiple metal conductors feed through the ceramics using precious metal braze alloys to create a hermetic bond between the metal conductors and the ceramic. This brazed joint maintains the hermetic seal in the ultra-high vacuum environment at elevated temperatures and high voltage.

Satellites rely upon Travelling Wave Tubes (TWT) to amplify weak signals received from the earth into strong signals before sending the signal back to the earth. Because satellite hardware must be reliable for a long time under continuous use in an ultra-high vacuum environment, electrical discharges that could damage the satellite must be prevented.

This requires electrical insulator assemblies within the electron gun and collectors within the TWT to be very high-purity, and the electrically insulating portion to have a very-high and reliable margin of voltage resistivity as well. Morgan’s ceramics and proprietary metallisation processes when combined with Morgan’s high-purity braze alloys provide for reliable hermetically sealed assemblies meeting these critical reliability applications in space.

Night vision systems rely upon imagine intensifier tubes which, among other elements, consist of:

1. an ambient light input lens
2. a vacuum-tight tube that provides electrostatic fields of increasing electrical potential along its length to direct and accelerate the input electrons to
3. the light signal output device

Metallised ceramics are used for the intensifier tube, or portions of the tube, because the ceramic provides both the electrical isolation and extreme tight-tolerances needed to maintain the effectiveness of the electrical field, and the metallised ceramic preserves the image quality by creating vacuum-tight joints.

Military electronics must operate across extreme temperature ranges, resist vibration and shock, and maintain performance under humid or corrosive conditions in field deployment. Our alumina assemblies, produced with hermetic braze joints using vacuum-grade alloys, provide the electrical isolation and mechanical stability required for reliable long-term operation in deployed defence systems.

Yes. Our ceramic-to-metal brazed assemblies have been supplied for use in travelling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), which are critical signal amplification devices in communications satellites. We are experienced in the ultra-high cleanliness, outgassing, and reliability requirements of space-qualified components.

Charge-dissipative (CD) coatings are applied to the surface of ceramic insulators within x-ray tubes to prevent electrostatic charge build-up, which can cause disruptive electrical discharges that damage the tube or degrade x-ray image quality. Morgan's proprietary CD coatings provide a controlled, intermediate surface resistivity that bleeds off charge gradually without compromising the insulator's overall dielectric performance and reliability.