The Boeing Company

Other

Dennis L Dull

Diane C Rawlings

David G Jensen

Florian B Mansfeld

Daniel R Tichenor

Multicurved copper films having fine-line elements suitable for radome applications can be improved by cutting the elements with reproducible precision to close tolerance (typically line widths of 3-10&plusmn;0.25 mil) using an etchant comprising a concentrated saline solution of CuCl .

Precision etched radome

Multicurved copper films having fine-line elements suitable for radome applications can be improved by cutting the elements with reproducible precision to close tolerance (typically line widths of 3-10&plusmn;0.25 mil) using an etchant comprising a concentrated saline solution of CuCl,.

Etching method

Use of rare earth metal salt solutions for sealing or anodized aluminum for corosion protection and paint adhesion

Increasingly stringent environmental restrictions make it challenging to apply coatings (i.e., paint) by conventional processes like spray painting because of the volatile solvents and hazardous pigments. The environmental scrutiny is particularly focused upon conventional corrosion protection surface treatments, especially chromated primers and conversion coatings. We apply appliqu{acute over (e)}s to provide a vapor barrier over the substrate to provide corrosion protection. We can make curved appliqu{acute over (e)}s on a family of molds of different Gaussian curvature and thereby avoid making a &ldquo;splash&rdquo; mold of the surface of interest to create the appliqu{acute over (e)}s. Using curved appliqu{acute over (e)}s reduces ridges, creases, or gaps that sometimes otherwise occur with attempts to a cover a surface with complex curvature with flat (planar) appliqu{acute over (e)}s.

Appliqu{acute over (e)}s providing corrosion protection

Radomes having complexly curved, frequency selective surfaces are made with a high degree of precision to assure part-to-part uniformity in electrical performance using a three-dimensional conformal mask and a precision etch process. The mask has a transparent substrate and a patterned opaque layer on the substrate. We expose photosensitive material overlying a thin film metal layer (generally deposited on a dielectric) through the mask. Metal exposed by patterning the photosensitive material is etched with a CuCl.sub.2 and chloride salt solution, and the remainder of the layer of photosensitive material is removed to complete the patterning.

Method for making precision radomes

Multicurved copper films having fine-line elements suitable for radome applications can be improved by cutting the elements with reproducible precision to close tolerance (typically line widths of 3-10.+-.0.25 mil) using an etchant comprising a concentrated saline solution of CuCl.sub.2.

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Sumner, WA, United States of America

Dennis L Dull