Sono-Tek

About

Sono-Tek is a global leader in spray coating technology for R&D and high-volume production. All systems are fitted with ultrasonic spray nozzles, a unique technology developed by Sono-Tek that allows for the highest levels of coating performance and excellent process efficiency.

Core to the Sono-Tek approach is working closely with customers to provide an optimised solution including with initial process testing and development, if needed.

Key features

High-performance spray coating: Uniformity, repeatability, material utilisation, film quality and process uptime
Versatile, customisable systems
Scalable: R&D up to high-volume production
Advanced control: Powerful, intuitive software
Strong applications support

Applications

Alternative energy & nanomaterials: Hydrogen electrolysers, fuel cells, solar cells, battery layers and conductive inks
Medical devices: Stents, microneedle patches, implantable membranes, diagnostic devices and surgical tools
Glass & industrial coatings: Transparent conductive oxide coatings, photoresist coatings, electrochromic coatings and anti-reflection coatings
Automotive: Coatings for various automotive components
Advanced textiles: Water and oil repellent, antimicrobial, and anti-stain finishes
Food manufacturing & packaging: Precision coatings for food processing and packaging
Printed circuit boards: Wave solder fluxing, selective solder fluxing and protective coatings
Semiconductor: MEMs, semiconductor protective films and EMI shielding spray coatings

Technologies

Ultrasonic nozzles

Sono-Tek systems use patented ultrasonic nozzles. Inside these, piezoelectric transducers create high-frequency vibrations to form a fine mist of atomised droplets without high pressure and without nozzle clogging, which often plague other spray coating approaches. Ultrasonics can be adjusted to fine-tune the characteristics of the mist, depending on the application.

Ultrasonic nozzles can spray in any direction, making them suitable not just for flat surfaces but also complex 3D shapes and small components.

Spray shaping

The soft, low velocity mist produced by ultrasonic nozzles often needs shaping, particularly where an application needs high precision or uniform deposition. For this, controlled air flows are introduced close to nozzle outlets.

Several patented air shaping technologies have been developed by Sono-Tek, which allow for various shapes and sizes of coating beam. For detailed work, PicoMist™, MicroMist™ and AccuMist™ technologies provide feature widths down to 0.5 mm. For larger scale coating, the Vortex, Impact, Propel™ and WideTrack™ modules allow coating widths of up to 60 cm from a single nozzle.

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Customisation for application

Sono-Tek are adept at tailoring final system design to match any of the huge range of applications their products are used for. Typical options include nozzle and air shaping design, substrate conditioning (e.g., heating and vacuum) and manipulation (e.g., conveyors, roll-to-roll processing, wafer/PCB handling), and liquid delivery. Entirely custom approaches are also available.

Products

R&D systems

Sono-Tek offers advanced ultrasonic coating systems tailored for R&D applications. Products such as the ExactaCoat, NovoCoat and FlexiCoat series provide precise, uniform coatings ideal for developing and testing new materials and processes. These systems can be compact for location in laboratory spaces or even benchtop, but still include the same core features as larger units.

Production tools

For high-throughput needs, tools with larger coating setups and/or automated substrate manipulation are needed. Sono-Tek provide a wide range of systems for these applications. Examples include:

VersiCoat: A conveyorized system with 1–4 nozzles
OMNIbot: A six-axis robotic coating solution for complex applications including 3D substrates
WideTrack: A high-volume system for wide-area coatings

Many other platforms are available.

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Semiconductor applications

The Sono-Tek range includes the SPT200, which is specially designed for coating semiconductor wafers with uniform thin films of photoresist where traditional spin coating cannot provide conformal coverage of deep well topographies or high aspect ratios, e.g., for MEMS. SPT200 systems can be configured to accommodate wafer sizes up to 300 mm.