Thick-Film and LTCC Passive Components for High-Temperature Electronics

At this very moment an increasing interest in the field of high-temperature electronics is observed. This is a result of development in the area of wide-band semiconductors' engineering but this also generates needs for passives with appropriate characteristics. This paper presents fabrication as well as electrical and stability properties of passive components (resistors, capacitors, inductors) made in thick-film or Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC) technologies fulfilling demands of high-temperature electronics. Passives with standard dimensions usually are prepared by screen-printing whereas combination of standard screen-printing with photolithography or laser shaping is recommenced for fabrication of micropassives. Attainment of proper characteristics versus temperature as well as satisfactory long-term high-temperature stability of micropassives is more difficult than for structures with typical dimensions for thick-film and LTCC technologies because of increase of interfacial processes' importance. However it is shown that proper selection of thick-film inks together with proper deposition method permit to prepare thick-film micropassives (microresistors, air-cored microinductors and interdigital microcapacitors) suitable for the temperature range between 150 degrees C and 400 degrees C.