Question: How do Acktar’s black coatings compare with typical paints?
Answer: Acktar’s black coatings are manufactured using vacuum deposition technology. They are very thin coatings, completely inorganic, have low outgasing and low reflectivity. The table provides a detailed comparison of Acktar’s black coatings with typically paints:

Characteristic	Paint - typical	Acktar
Density	1.1 gr/cm3	1.8 gr/cm3
Thickness	µm-100µm 60	µm   ~ 10
Coating weight	10.8 mg/cm2 dry	0.9 mg/cm2
Reflectance (0.8-12µm)	< 10%	<4%
Outgassing- CVCM	< 0.1%	0,001%
Outgassing - RML	< 1%	0.3%
Bonding to coating	problematic	excellent
Edges	build-up on edges/corners	not build up
Drying period	7 days	none
Temperature range	96K-473K	4K-623K (720K for short periods)
Particulate contamination	particulates	not particulates
Organic contamination (silicones, polymers, etc.)	high	none
Coating thickness control	poor	good
Thickness tolerance	±20µm	±1.5 µm
Coating adhesion	limited	excellent
Resistance to atomic oxygen	limited	excellent
Electrical conductivity	typically non-conductive	tailorable conductivity

Question: What is the typical thickness of Acktar’s coatings?
Answer: Acktar coatings are typically 12-13 µm thick. Thicknesses of 1-30µm and more can be supplied if needed.

Question: What makes Acktar’s coatings the best choice for IR detectors and Space applications?
Answer: No particulation, broad working temperature range, low outgasing, thin coating with tight tolerances, low reflectivity over a wide wavelength range, high emissivity, completely anorganic, can be applied on virtually any substrate, perfect cover (no build-up) on edges.

Question: Can you coat selected areas on the part?
Answer: Yes. We use mechanical masking that is tailored to the requirements.

Question: What are the typical applications of the coatings?
Answer: The applications are: stray light absorption in UV-VIS- IR wavelengths, night vision systems, cooled IR detector parts, satellite parts, high surface area capacitor electrodes, LED screens and more.

Question: According to which quality systems do you work?
Answer: Acktar is certified as a production and development facility by ISO 9001:2000, IQNet, S.A.M.S, and RoHs. Click here to see our certificates. In addition we are a certified “Ship to Stock” supplier for one of the world's largest manufacturers of IR detectors – based on our very high quality and very strict inspection regime.

Question: how can I coat large area parts / surfaces?
Answer: Acktar’s coatings are available either directly coated on parts or as coated foils with or without adhesive backing for use on large surfaces.

Question: what is the thickness tolerance of your coatings?
Answer: The thickness tolerance of our coatings can be as tight as 1-2 µm.

Question: What is the quality of the coating on the edges?
Answer: Our coatings have excellent cover on the entire surface including edges as seen in the photos below. There is no need for special design of the edge in order to get perfect cover.



Question: What is the performance of Acktar’s Black coatings at extremely low Temperatures?
Answer: Acktar's Fractal Black^TM was tested by an independent laboratory to compare its performance at very low temperatures with that of thick epoxy layers and black paint. The summary of the report is as follows: "The main advantage of Fractal Black^TM for us is the relatively high blackness at low temperatures (10K-50K) of the source of the thermal radiation achieved by small thickness of the coating."
A full copy of the report is available upon request. Question: Most of your products have very high emissivity. Can you produce a coating which is black in the visible range, but has a low emissivity in IR?
Answer: Our Nano Black selective coating has high absorbance in the VIS range and low emissivity in the IR range.