Cost-effective fabrication of customized LTCC devices with multilayer using multi-material 3D printing

Abstract

Low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) devices have been widely used in the defense, automotive, medical, and aerospace industries. However, the traditional manufacturing process of LTCC devices is hardly suitable for cost-effective, fast design and customization requirements. In this work, we propose a multi-material integrated 3D printing technology for LTCC. LTCC slurry was configured using homemade borosilicate glass powder and Al2O3 powder, and the influence of printing parameters on the printed effect was investigated. The shrinkage of the ceramics sintered at 850 °C for 15 min was 14.82 ± 0.47 % in the XY direction and 13.7 ± 0.26 % in the Z direction, comparable to that of commercial LTCC. Wireless sensing multilayer LED circuit and passive humidity sensor were fabricated, where the sensor with a sensitivity of 0.132 MHz/%RH. These cases demonstrate that the proposed technology can rapidly produce LTCC devices and meet the demand for custom LTCC devices in high-end manufacturing.