Eco-friendly tape casting of borosilicate glass/Al2O3 sheets for LTCC applications

This work reports the innovative development of a borosilicate glass/Al₂O₃ tape for LTCC applications using an eco-friendly aqueous tape casting slurry. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) were the respective dispersants, while carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and styrene acrylic emulsion (SA) were the respective binders. The results showed that PVP was more suitable than PAA as the dispersant for the aqueous casting slurry, and that 1.5 wt% PVP would achieve well dispersion of CABS glass/Al₂O₃ powder in the aqueous slurry. Moreover, a small amount of 2.0 wt% CMC binder could yield smooth CABS glass/Al₂O₃ tapes crack free. A high-quality CABS glass/Al₂O₃ tape with a smooth surface was made from an aqueous slurry containing 1.5 wt% PVP dispersant, 2.0 wt% CMC binder, and 2.0 wt% PEG-400 plasticizer. The density, tensile strength, and surface roughness of the green tape were 2.05 g/cm³, 0.87 MPa, and 148 nm, respectively. The resulting CABS glass/Al₂O₃ composites sintered at 875 °C exhibited a bulk density of 3.14 g/cm³, a dielectric constant of 8.09, a dielectric loss of 1.0 × 10^?3, a flexural strength of 213 MPa, a thermal expansion coefficient of 5.30 ppm/^°C, and a thermal conductivity of 3.2 W m^?1 K^?1, thus demonstrating its broad prospects in LTCC applications.     

Elevated temperature impact on performance of Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic dielectrics

The need for electronics to operate at temperatures of 200°C and above continues to grow. These applications include avionics, aerospace, automotive, downhole drilling, mining, and many others. To satisfy this demand, a significant amount of research and development has been conducted. Despite the efforts, the number of new electronic components designed specifically for high-temperature operation is still relatively limited. In Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) packages, LTCC materials are generally used as the host media for a number of pre-fabricated semiconductor components. As a result, reliability of the entire LTCC package largely depends on the performance of the least robust component. Ferro A6M-E and Ferro L8 are the two well-established and recognized LTCC dielectrics widely used for mid and high frequency LTCC applications, including several high reliability aerospace and defense applications that require demanding Mil-Spec qualifications. This study is our first attempt to characterize and understand basic high-temperature dielectric properties of these two commercial LTCC materials. The secondary objective is to initiate a dialogue in attempt to establish reliability requirements for LTCC packages dedicated for high-temperature operation.     

Development of LTCC micro-hotplate with PTC temperature sensor for gas-sensing applications

Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) micro-hotplates show wide applications in gas sensors and micro-fluidic devices. It is easily structured in three-dimensional structures. This paper presents the low power consumption micro-hotplates which were developed with PTC (positive temperature coefficient) temperature sensor and inter-digitated electrodes. The paper presents two different structures for micro-hotplate with platinum as a heating element. The PTC temperature sensor using two different materials viz. PdAg and platinum paste are developed with micro-hotplates. The simulation has been achieved through COMSOL for LTCC and alumina micro-hotplates. The temperature variation with power consumption has been measured for the developed LTCC micro-hotplates. The change in resistance of PTC temperature sensors was measured with micro-hotplate temperature. The aim of this study was to place a temperature sensor with the gas sensor module to measure and control the temperature of micro-hotplate. A SnO₂ sensing layer is coated on LTCC micro-hotplate using screen printing and characterized for the sensing of carbon monoxide gas (CO). This study will be beneficial for designing hotplates based on LTCC technology with low power consumption and better stability of temperature for gas-sensing applications.     

氮气氛下LTCC基板Cu共烧金属化研究

从PMMA型LTCC素坯膜的制备和PMMA的排胶机理两方面，研究了LTCC基板Cu共烧金属化。结果表明，采用PMMA作为粘结剂的流延浆料具有剪切变稀行为，所得的流延坯膜微观组织均匀，叠压后坯体内部无分层现象。热失重、差热和傅立叶红外光谱联用分析结果表明高纯N2气氛中PMMA以解聚机理热解，热解后释放的主要产物为丙烯酸甲酯。在高纯N2气氛中LTCC与Cu共烧后Cu金属化膜平整、致密，连通良好。经测试，基板表面Cu导体方阻小于5mΩ/□。     

共烧陶瓷多层基板技术及其发展应用

论述了高温共烧陶瓷与低温共烧陶瓷的优缺点，并讨论了多层共烧陶瓷的材料选择、工艺过程与控制，然后在提高材料性能方面提出了一些建议和方法，同时介绍了多层共烧陶瓷的国内外研究状况及今后的发展趋势。     

Low-fire processing and microwave dielectric properties of LB glass-doped Ba3.75Nd9.5Ti17.5(Cr0.5Nb0.5)0.5O54 ceramic

The effects of LB glass on the sintering behavior, structure, and dielectric properties for the Ba_3.75Nd_9.5Ti_17.5(Cr_0.5Nb_0.5)_0.5O₅₄ (BNTCN) ceramic were investigated. The results showed that the LB glass, as an effective sintering aid, successfully lowered the sintering temperature of BNTCN ceramic by formation of the liquid phase. Furthermore, the change of the structure and decrease in grain size had influences on the electrical conductivity, thermal stability, and microwave dielectric properties for the BNTCN ceramics doped LB glass. Finally, the excellent microwave dielectric properties with ε_r = 73.4, Q × f = 5277 GHz, and τ_f = +7.1 ppm/°C were obtained for samples sintered at 950°C when x = 5, indicating the BNTCN ceramic doped with 5 wt% LB glass is a promoting LTCC material.     

LTCC‐based monolithic system‐in‐package (SiP) module for millimeter‐wave applications

A miniature LTCC system‐in‐package (SiP) module has been presented for millimeter‐wave applications. A typical heterodyne 61 GHz transmitter (Tx) has been designed and fabricated in a type of the SiP module as small as 36 × 12 × 0.9 mm³. Five active chips including a mixer, driver amplifier, power amplifier, and two frequency multipliers were mounted on the single LTCC package substrate, in which all passive circuits such as a stripline (SL) BPF, 2 × 2 array patch antenna, surface‐mount technology (SMT) pads, and intermediate frequency (IF) feeding lines have been monolithically embedded by using vertical and planar transitions. The embedded SL BPF shows the center frequency of 60.8 GHz, BW of 4.1%, and insertion loss of 3.74 dB. The gain and 3‐dB beam width of the fabricated 2 × 2 array patch antenna are 7 dBi and 36 degrees, respectively. The assembled LTCC 61 GHz Tx SiP module achieves an output power of 10.2 dBm and an up‐conversion gain of 7.3 dB. Because of the integrated BPF, an isolation level between a local oscillation (LO) and RF signal is below 26.4 dBc and the spurious level is suppressed by lower than 22.4 dBc. By using a 61 GHz receiver (Rx) consisting of off‐the‐shelf modules, wireless communication test was demonstrated by comparing measured IF spectrums at the Tx and Rx part.     

Miniaturized ceramic differential scanning calorimeter with integrated oven and crucible in LTCC technology

A miniaturized ceramic differential scanning calorimeter (MC-DSC) with integrated oven and crucible is presented. Despite its small size of only 11 mm × 39 mm × 1.5 mm, all functions of a conventional DSC apparatus are integrated in this novel device - including the oven. The MC-DSC is fully manufactured in thick-film and green glass ceramic tape-based low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology. Therefore, production costs are considered to be low. Initial results using indium as a sample material show a good dynamic performance of the MC-DSC. Full width at half maximum of the melting peak is 2.4 °C (sample mass approx. 11 mg, heating rate approx. 50 °C/min). Repeatability of the indium melting point is within ±0.02 °C. The melting peak area increases linearly with the sample mass up to at least 26 mg. Simulations of a strongly simplified finite element model of the MC-DSC are in a good agreement with measurement results allowing a model-based prediction of its basic characteristics.     

Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC)-based biosensor for continuous glucose monitoring

This article presents design, fabrication and testing of a miniature ceramic-based biosensor which is destined for continuous glucose monitoring. It is fabricated using well known LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramics) technology. The biosensor consists of a microreaction chamber, three thick-film electrodes and a microdialysis tube. The detection process is based on oxidation of glucose by molecular oxygen in the presence of enzyme - glucose oxidase, GOx. One of the reaction products is a hydrogen peroxide which is detected amperometrically during its oxidation at a working electrode. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was used for optimization of the biosensor geometry and considerations of the influence of operating conditions (flow rate) on mass transfer (diffusion) of the glucose within the microreaction chamber. Tests of the developed LTCC-based biosensor indicate its linear response to glucose concentration up to 9 mM with a relatively high sensitivity of about 147 nA/mM. Moreover, the properties of the presented ceramic biosensor are compared with properties of a similar device made in silicon/glass and in Perspex^®.     

基于反馈电容的LTCC带通滤波器设计和优化

该文利用LTCC技术设计微型多层带通滤波器.为了在带外获得陡峭的衰减,通过并联反馈电容,引入了传输零点.然后利用毕奥-萨法尔定律来计算带通滤波器相应的多层结构的各微带线尺寸.结合HFSS电磁仿真,利用MIM电容尺寸与值的关系来优化滤波器的尺寸.最后设计了一个中心频率为2.45GHz,插入损耗小于2dB,阻带衰减大于30dB,尺寸为2.0mm×1.2mm×0.9mm的带通滤波器.