STM's EnCap™ process chemically bonds silver to every fiber, so mission-critical systems get EMI, lightning and signal protection that bends, breathes and keeps performing for the life of the program. Proven on the most demanding defense programs since 1955.
Now protecting wearable medical devices, data centers and secure facilities.
Somewhere right now, an engineer is staring at a failed EMI test, a blown weight budget, or a coating that cracked at flex cycle 2,000. That call usually finds us.
STM engineers conductive textiles for mission-critical EMI, RF and signal protection — silver, or nickel over silver, chemically bonded to every fiber of a knit, woven, non-woven or hook & loop. Then we do what a roll-goods supplier can't: coat it, laminate it, integrate absorbers into it, cut and bond it, and hand you a part.
Knits from 0.7 oz/yd². Wovens and non-wovens to −70 dB at 1 GHz. Conductive hook & loop and spandex. Rolls to 76" wide.
Thermoset and thermoplastic urethane, polyvinyl and silicone coatings. Pressure-sensitive, conductive and hot-melt adhesive lamination. Carrier films.
Absorber-integrated tapes and appliqués. Slit, die-cut, CNC-cut, sewn or ultrasonically bonded to your drawing.
Where it goes: Airframes and enclosures. Wearable sensors and defibrillation components. Data centers and cell sites. SCIFs and secure rooms.
See how a roll becomes a part →Most shielding is an add-on — foil, mesh, sprays and surface-deposited coatings applied to a design after the fact. On the bench, it passes. Then the program gets real.
Where add-on shielding gives up
Surface deposits crack and shed. Conductivity drops with every cycle.
Foil tears, tape lifts, and the seam becomes a slot.
Fluids, salt fog, UV and thermal swings find every place a surface coating is thin.
Metal, foil and fasteners win the shielding argument and lose the ounces.
Foil is a vapor barrier. Moisture collects, mold follows, and finished construction gets reopened.
When shielding fails, it never fails small. Discovered at qualification, it's a redesign and a retest measured in months. Discovered in the field, it's a grounded asset, a recall, or a wall that has to come down. And the engineer who chose the material owns the failure.
STM's EnCap™ process forms a chemical, molecular-level bond between the metal and the fiber, encapsulating each fiber 100% — every filament, every side, all the way around. The base fabric keeps its stretch, drape, tear strength and breathability. The conductivity becomes a property of the material rather than a layer on it.
What you get: shielding from −42 dB at 0.7 oz/yd² to −70 dB at 3.0 oz/yd² (ASTM D4935, 1 GHz) from a fabric that survives the environment and integrates where foil and metal physically can't.
Look at it at 1,000×. Then look at where it's been: on the same defense programs, through decades of flex cycles, fluid exposure and thermal swings, without giving up conductivity.
We don't publish the chemistry. We publish the micrographs, the data sheets and the independent shielding curves.
How EnCap™ works →Nobody buys dB — every brochure has dB. You're buying retained performance: pass qualification, and stay passed through every flex cycle, fluid exposure and thermal swing the platform sees. The payoff doesn't fit on a data sheet: the shielding line item goes quiet, and your name stays off the failure report.
Because the shield is the material, it goes where add-on shielding can't: into composites and appliqués, garments and wearables, walls that still breathe, cases that fold. System-level weight comes out. Design freedom goes in.
We engineer the alloy and construction, metalize it, coat it, laminate it, integrate absorbers, cut and bond it — and hand you a part, not a sourcing project. One accountable engineering relationship, fewer suppliers, and combinations no roll-goods vendor or converter can assemble: conductive and absorptive in a single appliqué.
Four applications, told at the altitude our customers' programs allow.
For the engineer whose program will ask about Berry, traceability and qualification before it asks about price. Conductive ground plane, lightning strike protection, EMI/RF signal management, ESD, shielded enclosures and cases.
Aerospace & Defense →For the device engineer who needs conductivity that stretches, breathes and touches skin — and a partner who moves at device-program speed. Pressure mapping, biosensors, wearables, defibrillation components.
Medical & Wearables →For the facility or product engineer fighting signal flooding. Data-center and cell-site shielding, harness wraps, RF blankets and barriers, EMI gaskets.
Telecom & Industrial →For the SCIF integrator, facility security officer or architect who has to pass accreditation and never open the wall again. SwiftShield™, window coverings, lab shielding, portable enclosures.
Architectural & Secure Facilities →New to conductive textiles? Every industry page starts with the engineering problem, not the product.
Whether you need conductivity that stretches 500%, shielding at 0.7 oz/yd², dimensional stability behind a wall, or a closure that carries current across a seam — there's a construction for it, and an engineer who'll tell you which one.
Ultra-light silver tricot scrims: 0.7–1.5 oz/yd², −42 to −55 dB at 1 GHz, widths to 76". Breathable, with stretch and recovery. For composite integration, ground planes and harsh-environment shielding at the lowest weight.
K087S · K158SConductive Knits →Rip stop and taffeta, silver or nickel/silver: 1.4–2.4 oz/yd², −65 dB at 1 GHz, tensile to 14,000 psi. For gaskets, enclosures, architectural shielding and flexible circuits.
W077S · W077NS · W823NSConductive Wovens →Point-bonded nylon, nickel/silver: 3.0 oz/yd², −70 dB at 1 GHz, dimensionally stable, 814 g/m²/24 h water-vapor transmission. For architectural shielding and shielded bags and pouches.
NPB20NSConductive Non-Wovens →Silver-coated nylon hook and loop, 1" and 2" widths: 0.02 Ω·cm across the paired closure, rated to 5,000 cycles. For enclosures, tents, shelters, covers and garments that have to open.
SMS-0102 · SMS-0103Conductive Hook & Loop →K252S: high-purity silver on nylon/Lycra, 500% elongation MD, <1.5 Ω/sq, 72" wide, soft finish for extended skin contact. For wearables, pressure mapping and biosensors.
K252SConductive Spandex K252S →Breathable woven and non-woven shielding for SCIFs, secure rooms, labs, window coverings and portable enclosures. High attenuation, no vapor barrier.
Woven & non-woven lineSwiftShield™ →In 1955, radar was new and the military needed a target it could see — so a weapon could lock onto cloth instead of a crew. STM's first conductive fabric flew behind a tow plane. We've been solving conductivity problems for people with no margin for error ever since.
We know what your qualification review will ask, because we've sat through them for seventy years. We know most of your program can't be discussed. Ours can't either. Tell us the environment, the frequencies and the constraints — that's enough for us to help.
When you call, an engineer answers. Not a form letter.
Our story →
Describe the application, the environment and the constraints — frequencies, weight budget, flex, exposure. An STM engineer responds within [X] business days. Working under ITAR? Share only what you can.
Request the Engineering Sample Kit. It ships with the data sheets and the independent shielding curves. Cut it, bend it, test it against your requirement.
We support qualification through first article, then deliver lot-traceable, U.S.-made material — the same in year ten as the lot you qualified.
Most of the data that proves STM works belongs to the programs it protects. So here is the proof we own.
Lockheed Martin Elite Supplier, 11+ consecutive years — 100% quality and on-time delivery on that relationship, as scored by the most demanding customer in aerospace.
In-house electrical, mechanical, RF and environmental characterization to ASTM methods: sheet and volume resistance, tensile, peel, tear, elongation, abrasion; RF from 30 MHz to 1.5 GHz and 2 to 18 GHz; −100°F to 500°F exposure, UV accelerated aging, elevated-temperature fluid exposure. Every fabric data sheet carries an independent free-space shielding-effectiveness curve from 2 to 40 GHz.
Testing & Characterization Lab →Objective. Replicate a structure built to ICD/ICS-705 and IC Tech Spec v1.5.1, test shielding materials and installation methods, and produce a list of viable materials and methods with measured shielding effectiveness.
Method. Three STM materials — NPB20NS, NPB20N3S and W077NS, all 36" wide — across 13 material configurations, measured pre-installation, after seam taping, and after the second drywall layer. Nine antenna locations, two polarizations: 18 measurements per test cycle, on split-coaxial and free-space transmission-loss fixtures.
Also on the page: the mold-growth time-lapse, foil versus SwiftShield™, side by side.
Read the case study →Seventy years later, the same discipline is on the newest platforms flying.
Our story →Certifications, the Berry statement, part numbers and specs, the capabilities list, Terms & Conditions of Sale, and an RFQ path that accepts drawings and specs — on one page, in the order your scorecard asks for them. ITAR-aware handling: share only what you can.
Measured on delivery, quality, technical capability and price? So are we.
EnCap™ is STM's proprietary metalization process. It forms a chemical, molecular-level bond between silver and the fiber, encapsulating each fiber 100% rather than depositing metal on the surface facing the source. The base fabric keeps its stretch, drape, tear strength and breathability, and the conductivity survives flex, abrasion and environmental exposure instead of cracking or shedding. We don't publish the chemistry; we publish the micrographs, the data sheets and the independent shielding curves.
Between −40 and −70 dB at 1 GHz (ASTM D4935) across the standard line, depending on construction and weight — from a 0.7 oz/yd² knit scrim at −42 dB to a 3.0 oz/yd² nickel/silver non-woven at −70 dB. Every fabric data sheet also carries an independent free-space shielding-effectiveness curve from 2 to 40 GHz. If your requirement sits outside the standard line, the construction, metal and weight can be adjusted.
Yes. All silver and nickel/silver STM products are manufactured in the USA at our Bloomfield, Connecticut facility. STM's materials meet Berry Amendment requirements for 100% domestic sourcing where the program requires it, and STM is ITAR and EAR compliant. Working under ITAR, share only what you're cleared to share; we'll work from the environment, frequencies and constraints. Our materials are dual-use and ship internationally under export license.
Both. STM manufactures bulk conductive fabric and also coats it (urethane, polyvinyl, silicone), laminates it (pressure-sensitive, conductive and hot-melt adhesives, carrier films), integrates absorbers and specialty coatings into tapes and appliqués, and slits, die-cuts and CNC-cuts to your drawing. Finished, value-added parts are now the largest share of what we ship.
Request the Engineering Sample Kit. It includes the standard line with data sheets and independent shielding curves. We ask for your application, frequency range, quantity horizon and timeline so an STM engineer can review the request — and, where useful, recommend a construction before the kit ships.
No. STM supplies engineered conductive textiles and finished parts to companies, programs and institutions with a technical application. We don't sell consumer quantities or retail cuts.
All FAQs →
Get an STM engineer on the problem before the next design review. Describe the application, the environment and the constraints — an engineer answers. When material in hand is the next step, the Engineering Sample Kit ships with data sheets and independent shielding curves.
No cost. Answered by an engineer. Working under ITAR? Share only what you can.