Thick Film Heating Elements: An Excellent Choice for Custom OEM Thermal Designs

Thick film heating elements, originally designed for the automotive and military industries, are manufactured by depositing several layers of conductor, resistors and dielectric on to an insulator via a screen printing process. The dielectric is normally some type of glass or ceramic and provides electrical insulation for the screen printed heating tracks.

Thick film heating elements are almost always custom designed for OEM applications. They can be designed in all shapes and sizes, and have an ability to provide very high watt densities with excellent controllability. The largest markets for these heating elements are appliances, analytical instruments, automotive, semi-conductor, medical device, scientific and military equipment.

Because of their inherent low mass, and their ability to carry high watt densities, thick film heaters are very efficient and are an excellent choice where a rapid heat-up (response) is required.

Advantages of thick film heaters are:

Watt-Density up to 175 watts per sq. in.
Operating Temperature to 500 deg C
Low Profile
Excellent Control
Very uniform heat profile
Temperature sensors can be included on the heater
Custom heating profiles
Very rapid heater response
Vibration and shock resistant
Very customizable shapes, sizes and wattages