This study investigates the effect of dielectric layer thickness on the electrical and reliability characteristics of BaTiO₃- based X8R multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) for automotive applications. MLCCs with 30 dielectric layers and thicknesses ranging from 5 to 30 μm were fabricated, and key parameters―including capacitance, equivalent series resistance (ESR), insulation resistance (IR), breakdown voltage (BDV), DC-bias characteristics, temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC), and ripple current-induced heating―were evaluated. The dielectric constant (~2,000) and sintering shrinkage (~-25%) were nearly independent of thickness, confirming stable microstructure formation. ESR increased with thickness, while normalized BDV (V/μm) decreased due to defect accumulation. IR improved with increasing thickness but dropped sharply above 125℃. Dielectrics thinner than 10 μm exhibited significant capacitance degradation under DC-bias and temperature variation, reflecting strong internal field effects. Ripple-induced heating correlated directly with ESR. These results indicate that, although thinner layers enhance capacitance density, reducing the thickness below 10 μm compromises bias stability and thermal reliability. A minimum dielectric thickness of 10 μm is therefore recommended to achieve an optimal balance between electrical performance and durability in high-reliability X8R MLCCs.
Integrating dielectric materials into LTCC is a convenient method to increase the integration density in electronic circuits. To enable co-firing of the high-k and low-k dielectric LTCC materials in a multi-material hetero-laminate, the shrinkage characteristics of both materials should be similar. Moreover, thermal expansion mismatch between materials during co-firing should be minimized. The alternating stacking of an LTCC with silica filler and that with calcium-zirconate filler was observed to examine the use of the same glass in different LTCCs to minimize the difference in shrinkage and thermal expansion coefficient. For the LTCC of silica filler with a low dielectric constant and that of calcium zirconate filler with a high dielectric constant, the amount of shrinkage was examined through a thermomechanical analysis, and the predicted appropriate fraction of each filler was applied to green sheets by tape casting. The green sheets of different fillers were alternatingly laminated to the thickness of 500 ㎛. As a result of examining the junction, it was observed through SEM that a complete bonding was achieved by constrained sintering in the structure of ‘calcium zirconate 50 vol%-silica 30 vol%-calcium zirconate 50 vol%’.
Ultrasonic sensor is suitable as a next-generation autonomous driving assist device because its lower price compared to that of other sensors and its sensing stability in the external environment. Although Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT)-relaxor ferroelectric system has excellent piezoelectric properties, the change in capacitance is large in the daily operating temperature range due to the low phase transition temperature. Recently, many studies have been conducted to improve the temperature stability of ferroelectric ceramics by controlling the grain size and crystal structure, so it is necessary to study the effect of the grain size on the piezoelectric properties and the temperature stability of PZT-relaxor ferroelectric system. In this study, the piezoelectric properties, phase transition temperature, and temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of 0.9 Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3-0.1 Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZTx-PZN) ceramics with various grain sizes were investigated. PZTx-PZN ceramics with larger grain size showed higher piezoelectric properties and temperature stability, and are expected to be suitable for ultrasonic devices in the future.
Phase evolution, sintering behavior, microstructure, and microwave dielectric properties of (1-x) mol Ba3V4O13 - (x) mol BaV2O6 system were investigated. The sintered specimens of all compositions consisted of Ba3V4O13 and BaV2O6, and no secondary phase was observed. As x increased, the linear shrinkage decreased to the composition of x=0.5, and then increased again, implying that Ba3V4O13 and BaV2O6 phases interfered mutually with each other during sintering. All compositions showed a dense microstructure with a large grain growth. Cracks were observed in some compositions because of the relatively high sintering temperature of 620~640℃. As x increased, the dielectric constant increased, while the quality factor was maintained from about 50,000 GHz to about 70,000 GHz up to the composition of x=0.9, and then decreased to 20,987~27,180 GHz at the composition of x=1.0. As x increased, the temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency showed a (+) value from a (-) value. The dielectric constant, the quality factor, and the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency of x=0.7 composition sintered at 640℃ for 4 hours were 10.61, 71,126 GHz, and -4.9 ppm/℃, respectively. This composition showed a good chemical compatibility with Al powder, indicating that the Ba3V4O13-BaV2O6 ceramics are a candidate material for ULTCC (Ultra-Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics) applications.
We investigated the structure of an ultra-thin insulating board with low thermal conductivity along z-axis, which was based on the idea of void layers created during the glass infiltration process for the zero-shrinkage low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. An alumina and four glass powders were chosen and prepared as green sheets by the tape casting method. After comparison of the four glass powders, bismuth glass was selected for the experiment. Since there is no notable reactivity between alumina and bismuth glass, alumina was selected as the supporting additive in glass layers. With 2.5 vol% of alumina powder, glass green sheets were prepared and stacked alternately with alumina green sheet to form the ‘alumina/glass (including alumina additive)/alumina’ structure. The stacked green sheets were sintered into an insulating substrate. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the additive alumina formed supporting bridges in void layers. The depth and number of the stacking layers were varied to examine the insulating property. The lowest thermal conductivity obtained was 0.23 W/mK with a 500-㎛-thick substrate.
With trend of the miniaturization and the high-functionalizing of mobile communication system, low-loss microwave dielectric materials are widely used for high frequency communication components. These dielectric materials should be co-sintered with highly electric-conducting metal such as silver or copper for high-frequency and thick film process application. Sintering temperature of Ca[(Li1/3Nb2/3)1-xTix]O3-δ, which has excellent dielectric properties such as εr above 40, quality factor (Q·f0) above 16,000 GHz, and TCF (temperature coefficient of resonant frequency) of -20~-10 ppm/℃, is reported as high as 1,175℃, so it could not be co-sintered with silver or copper. Therefore in this study, low-temperature melting glasses of Zn-B-O and Zn-B-Si-O systems were added to Ca[(Li1/3Nb2/3)1-xTix]O3-δ to lower its sintering temperature under 900℃ without losing excellency of dielectric properties. With 15 weight % of Zn-B-Si-O glass and sintered at 875℃, specimen showed density of 4.11 g/cm3,ε r of 40.1, Q·f0 of 4,869 GHz, and TCF of -5.9 ppm/℃. With 15 weight % of Zn-B-O glass and sintered at 87 5℃, specimen showed density of 4.14 g/cm3, εr of 40.4, Q·f0 of 7,059 GHz, and TCF of -0.92 ppm/℃.
Hole explosion behaviors were observed during drilling fine holes with laser beam on the LTCC green bar of 320 ㎛ thick after lamination of green sheets prepared by tape casting of thick film process. The incidence of these hole explosions was inversely proportional to hole sizes. The incidence of hole explosion was 20 % number of hole with the size of 60 ㎛ exploded for the UV radiation, while the explosion did not appear for hole sizes over 100 ㎛. To prevent hole explosion behavior during laser-drilling of fine holes, carbon black powder was added as an additive in the LTCC composition, which has superior thermal durability. As a consequence, hole explosion rate was suppressed to 0.8 % for the hole size of 50 ㎛ green sheet with the carbon black amount of 10 weight % and the laser power of 3 watt. Added carbon is thought to reduce the heat-affected region during laser drilling.
According to the composition of LTCC material, though it was thought that bulk defect which was made in forming process effects on the densification during the sintering, it was not reported systemically. In this study, we evaluated crystal structure, 3 point bending strength, hardness and microstructure of the samples by uniaxial pressing and tape casting using the commercial powders of the crystallizing glass and the glass/ceramic composite. In the case of glass/ceramic composite, Viox-001 powder with residual glass in the sintering, 3 point bending strength was similar regardless of forming process due to fill the bulk defect by residual glass. In the case of crystallizing glass, MLS-22, because glass phase was small in the sintering, glass did not fill the pore in the sample by uniaxial pressing process, therefore, the 3 point bending strength of it was 167 MPa. However, the 3 point bending strength of the sample by tape casting was 352 MPa and much higher. Meanwhile, crystal structure and hardness were similar regardless of forming process.
Recently, low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology is widely used in sensors, actuators and microsystems fields because of its very good electrical and mechanical properties, high reliability and stability as well as possibility of making 3D micro structures. In this study, we investigated the effects of sputtering gas ratio and annealing temperature on the crystal structure of Pb(ZrTi)O3 (PZT) thin films deposited on LTCC substrate. The LTCC substrate with thickness of 400 ㎛ were fabricated by laminating 4 green tapes which consist of alumina and glass particle in an organic binder. The PZT thin films were deposited on Pt / Ti / LTCC substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. The results showed that the crystallization of the films were enhanced as increasing O2 mixing ratio. At about 25% O2 mixing ratio, was well crystallized in the perovskite structure. PZT thin films was annealed at various temperatures. When the annealing temperature is lower, the PZT thin films become a phyrochlore phase. However, when the annealing temperature is higher than 600℃, the PZT thin films become a perovskite phase. At the annealing temperature of 700℃, perovskite PZT thin films with good quality structure was obtained.
A novel design of gas sensor using Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films which are deposited on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates is presented. The LTCC substrates with thickness of 400 μm are fabricated by laminating 12 green tapes which consist of alumina and glass particle in an organic binder. The GZO thin films with different thickness are deposited on LTCC substrates, by RF magnetron sputtering method. The microstructure and sensing properties of GZO gas sensing films are analyzed as a function of the film thickness. The films are well crystallized in the hexagonal (wurzite) structure with increasing thickness. The maximum sensitivity of 3.49 is obtained at 100 nm film thickness and the fastest 90% response time of 27.2 sec is obtained at 50 nm film thickness for the operating temperature of 400oC to the NO2 gas.
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