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Specialty Metal Films Co. is actually the rebirth of Specialty Thinfilm Services, Inc.
(STS), which was founded by Tom Killoren in 1988, and was located in Medway, MA. The highlight of our eleven years in business
as STS was the culmination of a two year effort for the Smthsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in Cambridge, MA, which was,
at that time, building the "High Resolution Camera" for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. STS was awarded the contract
to build what was affectionately known as "The Dog Bone"....a 15" long, 2" wide, intricately machined,
multi-faceted alumina substrate, onto which a fine pitched gold grating was fabricated. This required considerable creativity, designing
and building special equipment and adaptations of conventional photolithographic techniques and technology.
We are
extremely proud of that effort, and have been rewarded by the thousands of spectacular images that the great telescope
has sent back to earth.
In December of 1999, STS was acquired by an emerging telecom company, and the rollercoaster ride
began. All of the assets and personnel of STS were absorbed into the new company. Two short years later, when the telecom
bubble had finally burst, the facilities were shut down, and 110 people lost their jobs. The good news was that we were able
to buy back our original equipment, before the auctioneer arrived.
In December of 2002, Specialty Metal Films Co. emerged
from the ashes, and was welcomed back by many of its' former customers, some of whom have been with us for over twenty
years.
In our new incarnation, we made a conscious decision to drop photolithography from our list of services.
Handling, and disposal of the vast array of toxic chemicals associated with this processing was our main reason for opting
out.
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