Advanced Thick‐film Technology — The New Generation Available to Purchase

Thick film technology has been widely used in the past for medium performance packaging solutions, but has been unable to compete with thin‐film technology for high performance requirements. The problems of poor geometrical resolution, together with high dielectric constant and loss, have all contributed to the very limited adopting of thick‐film for advanced applications such as MCMs and microwave. This paper describes a new advanced ceramic based technology using thick‐film conductors and dielectric. Results showing the excellent geometrical properties which result from a combination of novel materials and processing, giving line widths down to 10 microns and via dimensions of 25 micron are presented. The novel dielectric material also provides a dielectric constant of 4, with a loss factor of 1 ×10^−4. This technology allows the fabrication of high density circuits and packages, offering many packaging solutions, including MCM, microwave, sensors and displays, all on one substrate.