3 December 1998: In early October, the Materials Business Unit of the Balzers and Leybold Group opened its new Strategic Research and Development Centre in Hanau, Germany. Dr. Martin Schlott heads a t…
3 December 1998: In early October, the Materials Business Unit of the Balzers and Leybold Group opened its new Strategic Research and Development Centre in Hanau, Germany. Dr. Martin Schlott heads a team of five experienced researchers who are working on the advanced development of materials for thin film sputter deposition processes. Applications of these products include digital data storage, information display, large area coating and optical devices. The new laboratory, which supersedes previously contracted R&D services, serves the Balzers and Leybold Materials sales, service, and manufacturing centres worldwide. These include Leybold Materials Inc., of Morgan Hill, California, Leybold Materials GmbH in Hanau, Germany, Balzers Materials in Liechtenstein, and Balzers and Leybold Singapore. Balzers and Leybold Materials manufactures source materials for thin film deposition processes. Specifically, these products include plates or shapes of highly specialized metal or ceramic composition, known in the industry as sputtering targets. Additional product lines serve the needs for precision evaporation charges for electronics and optical coatings. Leybold says the emphasis at its new Research and Development facility is on long-range development of innovative materials for consumer products (e.g. digital data storage media for computer hard disks, re-recordable CDs and DVDs, flat panel computer and television displays, improved eyeglass and instrument lens coatings), architectural glass (colour tinting and energy conservation technologies), and industrial products (wear resistant coatings, etc.).