Watlow introduces its ULTRAMIC 600 advanced ceramic heater. The high thermal conductivity aluminum nitride (AIN) ceramic composition is paired with a proprietary, thermally matched heating element to enable a fast responding heater configured in a low mass package. "Watlow's R&D team developed the ULTRAMIC 600 heater to meet the requirements found in challenging industrial applications," said Dr. Hongy Lin, principal scientist. The construction technique of the ULTRAMIC 600 heater is to sinter the ceramic at elevated temperatures to create a monolithic, geometrically stable structure. The result is a very low porosity, homogeneous, robust heater assembly that provides the necessary heat transfer for high temperature and long heater life. Constructing an electric heater using sintered ceramic materials provides many benefits including high dielectric strength, low leakage current, uniform temperatures, high durability at low mass, a rapid ramp rate and an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion. Watlow's ULTRAMIC 600 heater can be operated up to 600°C (1112°F) with a ramp rate of up to 150°C (270°F) per second depending on the application, heater design and process parameters. This heater also contains a unique (patent pending) integrated manufacturer of thermocouple configuration that improves the reliability of the sensor/heater interface to ensure fast responsiveness during high ramp rate applications. Watlow's ULTRAMIC 600 heater can be designed and manufactured in two-dimensional flat or ring forms and can be used in semiconductor processing, wire and die bonding equipment, analytical instrumentation, aerospace and medical device applications.