Microheater Explained

Microheaters are small high-power heaters, with precise control, that can offer temperatures in excess of 1000C, even up to 1900C.^[1] Microheaters provide for accurate high temperature control, for example in electron microscopes, pressure-anvil cells or for enhancing fiberheaters.^[2] Generally speaking, the heating method for microheaters involves conversion of electrical work to high density heat. With the increase in the temperature demanded, microheater heating materials change from metallic (non-brittle GAXP) to metal-ceramic like materials (MoSi2) which tend to be brittle. With an increase in usable temperature, microheaters need to be supported or enclosed with very high thermal-resistant ceramic materials often made from small grain, high purity aluminum oxide.

Other potential uses include:

• Fuel Cell Heat Sources,
• Electronics and Substrate Heating,
• RF Applications,
• Micro tube-heaters for small volume gas heating,
• High Power micro-furnace with optional tube extension,
• Fiber optics,
• Ideal for long aspect ratio/very small diameter pieces,
• Fiber optic use to reduce diameter of fibers,
• Igniter,
• MicroPlate heaters,
• Material Testing and Characterization,
• Thermal Property Measurements,
• Diamond Anvil Cells,
• SEM/TEM/AFM,
• Gas/Vapor Heaters/Converters,
• Thin Film Preparation,

When microheaters need controls it is important to heat only electrically, so that power may be controlled by a feed-back mechanism. New superheated steam or gas spot heaters are coming into use for spot microheater applications.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Microheater main page.
2. A. I. Kalachev, D. N. Nikogosyan, and G. Brambilla, "Long-Period Fiber Grating Fabrication by High-Intensity Femtosecond Pulses at 211 nm," J. Lightwave Technol. 23, 2568- (2005)