Mechanical characteristics of hybrid multilayer green Tape™ ceramics sintered in a 2.45 GHz single mode microwave cavity

Abstract

Research indicates that microwave energy offers many advantages over conventional heating methods. These advantages generally can be divided into two categories. One of them is the reduction in processing time and temperature, and the second one is the fabrication of materials with unique and/or superior properties. Microwave energy appears to be especially advantageous for the processing of many types of ceramics requiring high thermal process temperatures. This is connected with the increased coupling efficiency of ceramics at high temperatures with the microwave energy, the more uniform volumetric heating, and increased densification rates at lower processing temperatures. This paper describes microwave sintering of a commercial alumina-based product, Green Tape[sup TM] Dielectric 851AT (DuPont), that is designed for use as a material for hybrid integrated multilayer structures in the production of hybrid integrated circuits, as well as for some unconventional applications (ion optics, sensors, etc) (4,5). This study compares mechanical properties of conventionally and microwave sintered Green Tape[sup TM] 851AT hybrid multilayer structures.