Front End I News
Gateway Electronic Components appointed UK distributor for global thin-film technology company Susumu G
ateway Electronic Components has signed an agreement with Japanese manufacturer Susumu to distribute its range of specialist thin-film technology components in the UK. Gateway’s sales and product management team will support UK customers by using its expertise to help identify the most suitable products for clients’ applications, providing sample kits for development and evaluation. Since 1964 Susumu has been a leading player globally in the development of thin- film technologies to facilitate the creation of ultra-high precision resistive products including fixed resistors, resistor networks and trimmable resistors alongside current sensing resistors and chip attenuators. As leaders in thin-film deposition,
precision photo etching, laser machining and high density packaging technology, Susumu has developed products to provide customers with the precision and miniaturisation they require. The company uses 1/100th micrometre ultra-thin metal film in most of its products, enabling miniaturisation and high density packaging. Offering resistance tolerance as low as 0.01 per cent and temperature coefficient of
resistance of 1ppm per degree Celsius, Susumu’s products are particularly suitable for use in high precision electronic applications including test and measuring equipment, industrial machinery, consumer electronics, audio, and automotive electronics. The excellent high frequency characteristics of thin film products make them very suitable for wideband and wireless applications. Gateway Electronic Components managing director, Martin Ford said: “Susumu is a leading and trusted name in precision thin film technology. For the past 50 years, it has been driving for manufacturing synergy across its 4 key technology areas to achieve leading edge products for constantly emerging markets. Susumu products have found a wide variety of applications in demanding environments and we’re delighted to be able to offer their products to our customers.”
Susumu prides itself on its corporate principles of innovation, efficiency and environmentalism. The thin-film processes use the least amount of resistive material possible, the manufacturing employs fewer sintering and curing processes and the end
product is small without losing functionality. Susumu products have a smaller carbon footprint, helping to conserve the earth’s resources, and because they are all fully RoHS-compliant
Space… the final frontier A
lmost 60 years after the first satellite was launched, space is becoming ever more cluttered with defunct satellites, spent rocket boosters and sundry
stray pieces. To help deal with the problem, MPE has recently manufactured and supplied a suite of custom high-current EMC protection filters for applications in the US Air Force’s new Space Fence program. The Space Fence is a second- generation space radar system currently being built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin for the USAF, in order to track the increasing amount of space debris and artificial satellites in Earth orbit and avoid potential collisions. Richard F Ambrose, executive vice-president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, emphasises the point: “Ground-based situational awareness is a growing priority for government and commercial organisations around the world who need to protect their investments in space.” The new system will track a larger number of small objects than previous space radars, about 200,000 objects, and make 1.5 million observations per day, about 10 times the number made by existing or previous US assets. Contracts were issued for development and construction in 2014, and the Space Fence is expected to come into service in 2018. The first Space Fence facility is located at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, with an
option for a second ground-based, space scanning radar site to follow in Western Australia. One of the highest profile projects in the USA, in 2014 Lockheed Martin awarded the contract for Space Fence ground structures to General Dynamics. These include the receiving array, cooling equipment, radomes and other buildings. Space Fence will use gallium nitride (GaN) powered, S-band ground-based radars to provide the USAF with uncued detection, tracking and accurate measurement of space objects, primarily in low-earth orbit.
The geographic separation and higher
wave frequency of the new Space Fence radars will allow for the detection of much smaller microsatellites and debris than current systems. Furthermore Lockheed Martin’s Space Fence design will significantly improve the timeliness with which operators can detect space events that could present potential threats to GPS satellites or the International Space Station. The flexibility and sensitivity of the system will provide coverage of deep space geosynchronous orbits while maintaining the surveillance fence.
6 February 2017 Components in Electronics
and halogen-free they are more eco- friendly than other resistor manufacturing technologies.
www.thecomponentgateway.com
The custom EMC filters provided by MPE have been designed to meet the demanding performance specification flowed down from prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Supplied via MPE’s USA representative Technical Sales Solutions (TSS), they are being installed on site by ATEC Industries (ATEC) of Elkridge, Maryland, USA. All units have been manufactured in their entirety at MPE and individually tested and certified ahead of shipping to ATEC in Maryland for subsystem integration.
Alongside the demanding performance criteria, of particular importance was the space envelope taken by the EMC filters and the mechanical design to allow ease of integration to the subsystems on site. The custom filter suite delivered by MPE comprised a wide range of units for use within low current through to very high current applications.
Construction is well under way, with the new system’s initial operational capability scheduled for 2018, and Lockheed Martin looks forward to supporting the USAF on the first Space Fence, as well as the future second site planned to operate in Western Australia in 2021.
www.mpe.co.uk www.cieonline.co.uk
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