In voice coil motor (VCM) and optical image stabilization (OIS) springs in smartphone cameras, the component requirements are constantly increasing as smartphone technology evolves. Materion engineered EtchMet alloy—our newest ultra-high strength foil gauge strip and wire alloy—to meet and adapt to the frequently changing requirements.
Compared with commonly used copper titanium (CuTi) springs, EtchMet alloy offers many advantages for cell phone cameras, including increased life, high spring stiffness for shorter autofocus times, high durability that enables the spring to withstand impact loads without fracturing or permanently deforming and high fatigue strength that withstands repeated impact and actuation cycles.
MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING BENEFITS OF ETCHMET ALLOY
In addition to performance benefits, EtchMet alloy offers a number of advantages for VCM and OIS manufacturers, including:
A uniform, primarily single-phase microstructure, which photochemically machines easily and makes uniform edges free of stress risers
A material supplied fully precipitation hardened, so no further heat treatment is required
Minimal coil set that helps alignment during photochemical machining
Ease of soldering and welding
ETCHMET WIRE ALLOY FOR SUSPENDED-LENS CAMERAS
In addition to EtchMet strip alloy, we created an EtchMet wire alloy solution to hold and control the VCM/OIS spring in cellphone cameras that have a suspended lens. With a uniform elastic modulus across all thicknesses and diameters and between all product forms, EtchMet wire provides consistent stiffness and damping behavior that makes spring calculations easier for design engineers.
