Fabrication of Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) Chip Couplers for High Frequencies : I, Effects of Binder Burnout Process on the Formation of Electrode Line

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J. Korean Ceram. Soc. > Volume 36(6); 1999 > Article

Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society 1999;36(6): 583.

고주파용 저온 동시소성 세라믹(LTCC)칩 커플러 제조: I. 전극형성에 대한 결합제 분해공정의 영향

조남태, 심광보¹, 이선우², 구기덕³

한양대학교 세라믹공정연구센터
¹한양대학교 세라믹공정 연구센터
²한양대학교 세라믹소재 연구소
³(주)케이세라

Fabrication of Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) Chip Couplers for High Frequencies : I, Effects of Binder Burnout Process on the Formation of Electrode Line

ABSTRACT

In the fabrication of ceramic chip couples for high frequency application such as the mobile communication equipment the formation of electrode lines and Ag diffusion were investigated with heat treatment conditions for removing organic binders. The deformation and densification of the electrode line greatly depended on the binder burnout process due to the overlapped temperature zone near 400$^{circ}C$ of the binder dissociation and the solid phase sintering of the silver electrode. Ag ions were diffused into the glass ceramic substrate. The Ag diffusion was led by the glassy phase containing Pb ions rather than by the crystalline phase containing Ca ions. The fact suggests that the Ag diffusion could be controlled by managing the composition of the glass ceramic substrate.

Key words: LTCC, Binder burnout, Glass-ceramic, Ag diffusion, Couplers