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Ceramic PCB refers to a special process board in which copper foil is directly bonded to the surface of alumina (Al2O3) or aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrate (single-sided or double-sided) at high temperature. The ultra-thin composite substrate produced has excellent electrical insulation performance, high thermal conductivity, excellent brazing performance, and high adhesion strength. It can also etch various patterns like other FR4 PCB boards, and has great current carrying capacity. Therefore, ceramic substrates have become the fundamental material for high-power power electronic circuit structure technology and interconnection technology.
Background technology:
With the gradual deepening of electronic technology in various application fields, highly integrated circuit boards have become an inevitable trend. Highly integrated packaging modules require a good heat dissipation bearing system, while the disadvantage of traditional circuit boards FR-4 and CEM-3 in TC (thermal conductivity) has become a bottleneck restricting the development of electronic technology. In recent years, the rapidly developing LED industry has also put forward higher requirements for its TC index for carrying circuit boards. In the field of high-power LED lighting, materials with good heat dissipation performance such as metals and ceramics are often used to prepare circuit substrates. The thermal conductivity of high thermal conductivity aluminum substrates is generally 1-4W/M. K, while the thermal conductivity of ceramic substrates can reach around 220W/M. K depending on their preparation method and material formula.
Features:
1. Strong mechanical stress and stable shape; High strength, high thermal conductivity, and high insulation; Strong adhesion and corrosion resistance.
2. Good thermal cycling performance, with 50000 cycles and high reliability.
3. A structure that can etch various shapes like a PCB board (or IMS substrate); Non polluting and pollution-free.
4. Operating temperature range -55 ℃ to 850 ℃; The coefficient of thermal expansion is close to that of silicon, simplifying the production process of power modules.
Main advantages:
Unlike traditional FR-4 (wave fibers), ceramic materials have excellent high-frequency and electrical properties, as well as high thermal conductivity, chemical stability, and thermal stability that organic substrates do not possess. They are ideal packaging materials for the new generation of large-scale integrated circuits and power electronic modules.
1. Higher thermal conductivity
2. More matching coefficient of thermal expansion
3. A stronger and lower resistance metal film layer. 4. The substrate has good weldability and high usage temperature
5. Good insulation
6. Low high-frequency loss
7. Can be assembled with high density
8. It does not contain organic components, is resistant to cosmic rays, has high reliability in aerospace, and has a long service life
9. The copper layer does not contain an oxide layer and can be used for a long time in a reducing atmosphere.
Performance requirement:
(1) Mechanical properties
Having sufficient mechanical strength, it can be used as a supporting component in addition to carrying components; Good processability and high dimensional accuracy; Easy to achieve multi-layer;
Smooth surface, without warping, bending, microcracks, etc.
(2) Electrical properties
High insulation resistance and insulation failure voltage;
Low dielectric constant;
Low dielectric loss;
Stable performance under high temperature and humidity conditions, ensuring reliability.
(3) Thermal properties
High thermal conductivity;
Matching the thermal expansion coefficient with relevant materials (especially with the thermal expansion coefficient of Si);
Excellent heat resistance.
(4) Other properties
Good chemical stability; Easy to metallize, circuit graphics have strong adhesion to them;
No hygroscopicity; Oil and chemical resistance; The amount of radiation emitted is small;
The substances used are pollution-free and non-toxic; The crystal structure remains unchanged within the temperature range of use;
Rich raw materials; Mature technology; Easy to manufacture; The price is low.
Class:
First, according to the material
1、 Al2O3
Alumina substrate is the most commonly used substrate material in the electronics industry because of its high strength and chemical stability compared to most other oxide ceramics in terms of mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, as well as a rich source of raw materials, suitable for a wide variety of technical manufacturing and different shapes.
2、BeO
It has a higher thermal conductivity than aluminum, and is used in applications that require high thermal conductivity, but it decreases rapidly after the temperature exceeds 300°C, and most importantly, its toxicity limits its development.
3 、AlN
AlN has two very important properties worth noting: one is the high thermal conductivity and the other is the coefficient of expansion that matches the Si. The disadvantage is that even a very thin oxide layer on the surface can have an effect on the thermal conductivity, and only a tight control of the material and process can make a consistent AlN substrate. However, with the improvement of the economy and the upgrading of technology, this bottleneck will eventually disappear.
Based on the above reasons, it can be known that alumina ceramics are still in a dominant position in the fields of microelectronics, power electronics, hybrid microelectronics, and power modules due to their superior comprehensive properties.
Second, according to the manufacturing process to divide
At this stage, there are five types of ceramic heat dissipation substrates: HTCC, LTCC, DBC, DPC, and LAM, and HTCCLTCC are all sintering processes, and the cost will be higher.
DBC and DPC are the domestic development in recent years, and the professional technology of energy production, DBC is the use of high temperature heating to combine Al2O3 and Cu plate, its technical bottleneck is not easy to solve the problem of microporosity between Al2O3 and Cu plate, which makes the mass production energy and yield of the product are greatly challenged, and DPC technology is the use of direct copper plating technology, Cu is deposited on the Al2O3 substrate, the process combines materials and thin film technology, and its products are the most commonly used ceramic heat dissipation substrates in recent years。 However, its material control and process technology integration capabilities are required, which makes the technical threshold for entering the DPC industry and stable production relatively high. LAM technology is also known as laser rapid activation metallization technology.
1、HTCC (High-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic)
HTCC is also known as high-temperature co-firing multi-layer ceramics, the manufacturing process is very similar to LTCC, the main difference is that the ceramic powder of HTCC is not added to the glass material, therefore, HTCC must be dried and hardened into a green embryo under a high temperature of 1300~1600 °C, and then the conduction hole is also drilled, and the hole is filled and printed with screen printing technology, because of its high co-firing temperature, the choice of metal conductor materials is limited, and its main materials are tungsten, molybdenum, manganese... and other metals, and finally laminated and sintered to form.
2、 LTCC (Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic)
LTCC, also known as low-temperature co-fired multilayer ceramic substrate, this technology must first mix inorganic alumina powder with about 30%~50% The glass material is added with an organic binder to make it evenly mixed into a muddy slurry, and then the slurry is scraped into a sheet by a scraper, and then the sheet slurry is formed into a thin embryo through a drying process, and then drilled through holes according to the design of each layer, as the transmission of signals in each layer, LTCC internal circuit is used screen printing technology, respectively, to fill holes and print circuits on the raw embryo, and the inner and outer electrodes can be used silver, copper, gold and other metals respectively, and finally each layer is laminated and placed in 850~It can be sintered in a sintering furnace at 900°C.
3、 DBC (Direct Bonded Copper)
The basic principle is to introduce an appropriate amount of oxygen between copper and ceramics before or during the laying process, in the range of 1065 °C ~ 1083 °C, copper and oxygen form Cu-O eutectic solution, DBC technology uses the eutectic solution to generate CuAlO2 or CuAl2O4 phase with the ceramic substrate on the one hand, and infiltrates the copper foil to realize the combination of ceramic substrate and copper plate.
Use:
1. High-power power semiconductor module, semiconductor cooler, electronic heater, power control circuit, power hybrid circuit.
2. Intelligent power components, high-frequency switching power supplies, solid state relays.
3. Automotive, aerospace and military electronic components.
4. Solar panel components, telecommunication private exchanges, receiving systems, lasers and other industrial electronics.
Ceramic PCB refers to a special process board in which copper foil is directly bonded to the surface of alumina (Al2O3) or aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrate (single-sided or double-sided) at high temperature. The ultra-thin composite substrate produced has excellent electrical insulation performance, high thermal conductivity, excellent brazing performance, and high adhesion strength. It can also etch various patterns like other FR4 PCB boards, and has great current carrying capacity. Therefore, ceramic substrates have become the fundamental material for high-power power electronic circuit structure technology and interconnection technology.
Background technology:
With the gradual deepening of electronic technology in various application fields, highly integrated circuit boards have become an inevitable trend. Highly integrated packaging modules require a good heat dissipation bearing system, while the disadvantage of traditional circuit boards FR-4 and CEM-3 in TC (thermal conductivity) has become a bottleneck restricting the development of electronic technology. In recent years, the rapidly developing LED industry has also put forward higher requirements for its TC index for carrying circuit boards. In the field of high-power LED lighting, materials with good heat dissipation performance such as metals and ceramics are often used to prepare circuit substrates. The thermal conductivity of high thermal conductivity aluminum substrates is generally 1-4W/M. K, while the thermal conductivity of ceramic substrates can reach around 220W/M. K depending on their preparation method and material formula.
Features:
1. Strong mechanical stress and stable shape; High strength, high thermal conductivity, and high insulation; Strong adhesion and corrosion resistance.
2. Good thermal cycling performance, with 50000 cycles and high reliability.
3. A structure that can etch various shapes like a PCB board (or IMS substrate); Non polluting and pollution-free.
4. Operating temperature range -55 ℃ to 850 ℃; The coefficient of thermal expansion is close to that of silicon, simplifying the production process of power modules.
Main advantages:
Unlike traditional FR-4 (wave fibers), ceramic materials have excellent high-frequency and electrical properties, as well as high thermal conductivity, chemical stability, and thermal stability that organic substrates do not possess. They are ideal packaging materials for the new generation of large-scale integrated circuits and power electronic modules.
1. Higher thermal conductivity
2. More matching coefficient of thermal expansion
3. A stronger and lower resistance metal film layer. 4. The substrate has good weldability and high usage temperature
5. Good insulation
6. Low high-frequency loss
7. Can be assembled with high density
8. It does not contain organic components, is resistant to cosmic rays, has high reliability in aerospace, and has a long service life
9. The copper layer does not contain an oxide layer and can be used for a long time in a reducing atmosphere.
Performance requirement:
(1) Mechanical properties
Having sufficient mechanical strength, it can be used as a supporting component in addition to carrying components; Good processability and high dimensional accuracy; Easy to achieve multi-layer;
Smooth surface, without warping, bending, microcracks, etc.
(2) Electrical properties
High insulation resistance and insulation failure voltage;
Low dielectric constant;
Low dielectric loss;
Stable performance under high temperature and humidity conditions, ensuring reliability.
(3) Thermal properties
High thermal conductivity;
Matching the thermal expansion coefficient with relevant materials (especially with the thermal expansion coefficient of Si);
Excellent heat resistance.
(4) Other properties
Good chemical stability; Easy to metallize, circuit graphics have strong adhesion to them;
No hygroscopicity; Oil and chemical resistance; The amount of radiation emitted is small;
The substances used are pollution-free and non-toxic; The crystal structure remains unchanged within the temperature range of use;
Rich raw materials; Mature technology; Easy to manufacture; The price is low.
Class:
First, according to the material
1、 Al2O3
Alumina substrate is the most commonly used substrate material in the electronics industry because of its high strength and chemical stability compared to most other oxide ceramics in terms of mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, as well as a rich source of raw materials, suitable for a wide variety of technical manufacturing and different shapes.
2、BeO
It has a higher thermal conductivity than aluminum, and is used in applications that require high thermal conductivity, but it decreases rapidly after the temperature exceeds 300°C, and most importantly, its toxicity limits its development.
3 、AlN
AlN has two very important properties worth noting: one is the high thermal conductivity and the other is the coefficient of expansion that matches the Si. The disadvantage is that even a very thin oxide layer on the surface can have an effect on the thermal conductivity, and only a tight control of the material and process can make a consistent AlN substrate. However, with the improvement of the economy and the upgrading of technology, this bottleneck will eventually disappear.
Based on the above reasons, it can be known that alumina ceramics are still in a dominant position in the fields of microelectronics, power electronics, hybrid microelectronics, and power modules due to their superior comprehensive properties.
Second, according to the manufacturing process to divide
At this stage, there are five types of ceramic heat dissipation substrates: HTCC, LTCC, DBC, DPC, and LAM, and HTCCLTCC are all sintering processes, and the cost will be higher.
DBC and DPC are the domestic development in recent years, and the professional technology of energy production, DBC is the use of high temperature heating to combine Al2O3 and Cu plate, its technical bottleneck is not easy to solve the problem of microporosity between Al2O3 and Cu plate, which makes the mass production energy and yield of the product are greatly challenged, and DPC technology is the use of direct copper plating technology, Cu is deposited on the Al2O3 substrate, the process combines materials and thin film technology, and its products are the most commonly used ceramic heat dissipation substrates in recent years。 However, its material control and process technology integration capabilities are required, which makes the technical threshold for entering the DPC industry and stable production relatively high. LAM technology is also known as laser rapid activation metallization technology.
1、HTCC (High-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic)
HTCC is also known as high-temperature co-firing multi-layer ceramics, the manufacturing process is very similar to LTCC, the main difference is that the ceramic powder of HTCC is not added to the glass material, therefore, HTCC must be dried and hardened into a green embryo under a high temperature of 1300~1600 °C, and then the conduction hole is also drilled, and the hole is filled and printed with screen printing technology, because of its high co-firing temperature, the choice of metal conductor materials is limited, and its main materials are tungsten, molybdenum, manganese... and other metals, and finally laminated and sintered to form.
2、 LTCC (Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic)
LTCC, also known as low-temperature co-fired multilayer ceramic substrate, this technology must first mix inorganic alumina powder with about 30%~50% The glass material is added with an organic binder to make it evenly mixed into a muddy slurry, and then the slurry is scraped into a sheet by a scraper, and then the sheet slurry is formed into a thin embryo through a drying process, and then drilled through holes according to the design of each layer, as the transmission of signals in each layer, LTCC internal circuit is used screen printing technology, respectively, to fill holes and print circuits on the raw embryo, and the inner and outer electrodes can be used silver, copper, gold and other metals respectively, and finally each layer is laminated and placed in 850~It can be sintered in a sintering furnace at 900°C.
3、 DBC (Direct Bonded Copper)
The basic principle is to introduce an appropriate amount of oxygen between copper and ceramics before or during the laying process, in the range of 1065 °C ~ 1083 °C, copper and oxygen form Cu-O eutectic solution, DBC technology uses the eutectic solution to generate CuAlO2 or CuAl2O4 phase with the ceramic substrate on the one hand, and infiltrates the copper foil to realize the combination of ceramic substrate and copper plate.
Use:
1. High-power power semiconductor module, semiconductor cooler, electronic heater, power control circuit, power hybrid circuit.
2. Intelligent power components, high-frequency switching power supplies, solid state relays.
3. Automotive, aerospace and military electronic components.
4. Solar panel components, telecommunication private exchanges, receiving systems, lasers and other industrial electronics.
The report forecasts a return to modest growth for North American PCB production by the end of 2016, with growth expected to continue through 2018. This growth trend also applies globally, including key PCB production regions such as China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. The study presents data and analysis on various aspects of the PCB market, such as market size, sales growth, product types, vertical markets, revenue trends, layer counts, material trends, labor and R&D spending, revenue per employee, and U.S. import/export activities. A special feature includes forecasts by Dr. Hayao Nakahara, a prominent industry analyst, on total PCB production in the Americas and worldwide through 2018.
To identify a good PCB supplier, Shenzhen-based manufacturer SysPCB suggests several strategies: 1、Observing the Product: Evaluate free samples from potential suppliers to judge their product quality and manufacturing capabilities. 2、Judging the Credit: Assess the supplier's credibility through their certifications (ISO, SGS, UL), business licenses, and adherence to promised delivery timelines. 3、Enjoying the Service: Test both pre-sale and after-sale services to see if the supplier maintains a high standard of customer support. 4、Listening to the Voice: Analyze customer feedback online to gain insights into the supplier's competitiveness, service quality, and reputation. 5、Analyzing the Case: Investigate the supplier's website and listed case studies to understand their clientele and market strength.
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Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are essential components in electronics, with FR4, a glass fiber-based board, being the most commonly used material due to its stability under temperature variations and affordability. For those interested in electronics, constructing a homemade circuit board is a simple process that involves drawing the circuit pattern, transferring it onto a copper-clad board, and using an etching solution to create the circuits. The process includes marking, tracing, etching, and drilling to complete the basic structure of a circuit board. For more advanced multilayer PCBs, SysPCB, a China-based manufacturer, offers assistance and support from experienced staff to guide customers through the purchasing process.
High-Density Interconnect (HDI) printed circuit boards (PCBs) have revolutionized the electronics industry by enabling the production of smaller, lighter, and more efficient devices. As technology continues to advance, the demand for HDI PCBs has surged, making the understanding of their manufacture crucial for engineers, designers, and manufacturers alike.