Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


-----

Chemical or Electrochemical Polishing of High Purity Aluminum

Hello,
I'm trying to prepare very high purity aluminum as a substrate for thin film deposition. I currently use mechanical polishing to produce a mirror finish. I am looking for a final chemical or electrochemical polish that will (1) remove the top ~1 mil of the aluminum, and (2) leave an ultra-smooth finish. Advice or contact information if you can provide this service would be greatly appreciated.

Joel U [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Livermore, California
2000

---

Alright, since I have partial experience with this stuff (I don't do it, but I tested it out left and right). Since you got ultra pure aluminum you're in good good shape. The thing to do is call John at Plating Process in Mentor, Ohio, he is the head man there and has an enormous amount of knowledge about electropolishing and chemical polishing processes. The area code was 440. Good Luck to you, John and his entire staff are quality people that do their best to get you the information you would need and assist you in doing samples, they sell the process and the chemicals and they can install machinery (automatics and manuals)

Matthew Stiltner
- Toledo, Ohio
2000