Not sure if this is okay to post here.

[Masonr56]

I bought these red metal disk and I'm curious what they are and used for.
I know the case thing is used for holding very sensitive disks for semiconductors but the disks are metal and not what's normally in them. Maybe they are place holders? Any help would be helpful. Thanks everyone. I'm mason btw.

 

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[vhs07]

Hi Mason, you're in the right place. tell us the dimension and thickness of the disks. also do you know what metal they're made of?

 

[Masonr56]

I don't have any measuring tools with me but I guesstimated they are 8" in diameter, maybe 3-5mm thick, and seems like aluminum with maybe a red anodized coating.

 

[Anduril]

Could be a blank metal master disk (circa 1900 - 1940), but those were 10" diameter.
Construction is nickel and copper, with electroplating.

Maybe Direct Metal Mastering (?)
Here's a Wikipedia link, but you'll have to search around for the earlier stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_metal_mastering

 

[Discrimination Dave]

I worked in microchip manufacturing many years ago. Silicon wafers are very glass like and go through literally hundreds of steps from start to finish. I worked in an area responsible for only a part of the process but i recall other areas where the wafers were placed alternately with disks composed of various materials, mostly metals, then placed in an oven of some sort. Ions or atoms would move from the metal disks to the actual wafers.
I'd bet thats what they are.
or could be blanks the engineers used for adjusting the robotic arms of the various machines, as not to waste the actual crystal wafers.

 

[Masonr56]

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I don't think it's the direct metal mastering as the holder has the company name of Empak on it. They definitely are meant to be in that case and that company deals with semi conductor disk management. I think Dave is on the right track. Any other ideas are welcome. I won't call this solved just yet.

 

[Masonr56]

Oh and I don't know if this makes a difference but they do have a hole in the center and the silicon wafers I saw online didn't. Also they are 2mm thick exactly and I'm almost certain they are aluminum. I read up on techniques of particle transfer and the most commonly used one for disc manufacturing is called sputtering. I won't go into too much detail but I am almost certain it isn't a sputtering target, which is what you were talking about.