Material Spotlight: Kovar

One of the benefits of MIM is the amount of alloys that are available. MIM alloys can be blended to meet all of a customer's specifications and needs. Kovar, commonly referred to as MIM-F15, is one of the many MIM materials that

OptiMIM offers.

Low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

Kovar, or F-15, is a low expansion iron MIM alloy that is most commonly used in electronics applications. Kovar has a high nickel and cobalt content and is traditionally an alloy that was used for metal-to-glass sealing because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion. It also provides a hermetic seal that is used to protect devices in many different industries.

Aerospace Alloy of Choice

Recently, Kovar has been selected as the alloy of choice for aerospace industry applications because of its properties. Kovar can withstand rapid temperatures – from absolute zero to extremely high heat – without changing or weakening in structure. As an example, Kovar is used in the aerospace industry in the small components on radar systems and satellites so that the change in temperature does not warp the metal or make the radar work improperly.