157:)., Commonly used substrates for thick-film processes are 94 or 96% alumina. Alumina is very hard and lasering of the material is the most efficient way to machine it. The thick-film process is also a means of miniaturization, where one substrate normally contains many units (final circuits). With lasering it is possible to scribe, profile and drill holes. Scribing is a process where a line of laser pulses is fired into the material and 30–50% of the material is removed; this weakens the substrate, and after all other processes are completed the substrate can easily be divided into single units. Profiling is, for example, used a lot in sensor fabrication, where a circuit needs to fit round tubes or other different complex shapes. Drilling of holes can provide a "via" (conductive link) between the two sides of the substrate, normally hole sizes are in the range 0.15–0.2 mm.
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235:. Many chip resistors are made using thick-film technology. Large substrates are printed with resistors fired, divided into small chips and these are then terminated, so they can be soldered on the PCB board. With laser trimming two modes are used; either passive trimming, where each resistor is trimmed to a specific value and tolerance, or active trimming, where the feedback is used to adjust to a specific voltage, frequency or response by laser trimming the resistors on the circuit while powered up.
43:), which in addition to use in manufacturing electronic devices can also be used for various graphic reproduction targets. It became one of the key manufacturing/miniaturisation techniques of electronic devices/modules during 1950s. Typical film thickness – manufactured with thick film manufacturing processes for electronic devices – is 0.0001 to 0.1 mm.
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advanced through the fired resistor while the resistor element is monitored with probe contacts and when final value is reached the abrasive blast is shut off and the nozzle retracts to the zero start position. The abrasive technique can achieve very high tolerances with no heat and no cracking of the glass frit used in the ink formulation.
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Thick-film circuits/modules are widely used in the automotive industry, both in sensors, e.g. mixture of fuel/air, pressure sensors, engine and gearbox controls, sensor for releasing airbags, ignitors to airbags; common is that high reliability is required, often extended temperature range also along
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There are numerous steps in thick film manufacturing which need careful control, like roughness of the substrate, curing temperatures and times of pastes, selected stencil thickness vs. paste type, etc., Therefore the number of pastes used and process steps define the complexity of the process and
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After allowing time after printing for settling of the ink, each layer of ink that is deposited is usually dried at a moderately high temperature of 50 to 200 °C (122 to 392 °F) to evaporate the liquid component of the ink and fix the layer temporarily in position on the substrate so that
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After firing the resistors can be trimmed using a precision abrasive cutting method first developed by S.S. White. The method involves a fine abrasive media, usually 0.027 mm aluminum oxide. The abrasive cutting is fed through a carbide nozzle tip that can be of different sizes. The nozzle is
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Inks for electrodes, terminals, resistors, dielectric layers etc. are commonly prepared by mixing the metal or ceramic powders required with a solvent (ceramic thick film pastes) or polymer pastes to produce a paste for screen-printing. To achieve a homogeneous ink the mixed components of the ink
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can be used for designing thick film circuits. However, the compatibility of tooling formats with stencil manufacturing/manufacturer needs attention as well as the availability of the geometrical, electrical and thermal design rules for simulation and layout design from the final manufacturer.
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The development of the SMT process actually evolves from the thick film process. Also mounting of naked dies (the actual silicon chip without encapsulation) and wire bonding is a standard process, this provides the basis for miniaturization of the circuits as all the extra encapsulation is not
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The simplest form to utilise a thick film technology is a module substrate/board, where wiring is manufactured using thick film process. Additionally resistors and large tolerance capacitors can be manufactured with thick film methods. Thick film wiring can be made compatible with
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The manufacturing of thick film devices/modules is an additive process involving deposition of several (typically max 6–8) successive layers of conductive, resistive and dielectric layers onto an electrically insulating substrate using a
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For many of the metal, ceramic and glass inks used in thick film processes a high temperature (usually greater than 300 °C) firing is required to fix the layers in position permanently on the substrate.
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This step is often necessary because many components are produced on one substrate at the same time. Thus, some means of separating the components from each other is required. This step may be achieved by
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it can be handled or stored before final processing. For inks based on polymers and some solder pastes that cure at these temperatures, this may be the final step that is required. Some inks also require
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massive thermocycling of circuits without failure. Other application areas are space electronics, consumer electronics, and various measurement systems where low cost and/or high reliability is needed.
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A course developed by
Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BTE), Dept. of Electronics Technology concerning Technology of electronics products, chapter "Thick Film"
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55:(SMT), and if needed (due to tolerances and/or size requirements) surface-mountable parts (resistors, capacitors, ICs, etc.) can be assembled on a thick film substrate.
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Vandermeulen, M.; Roy, D.; Pirritano, S.; Bernacki, D.; et, al (2004). "High
Density Thick Film Substrates for Miniaturized 3D Chip Stacking Packaging Solutions".
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may be passed through a three-roll mill. Alternatively, ready-made inks may be obtained from several companies offering products for the thick-film technologist.
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At this stage, the devices may require integrating with other electronic components, usually in the form of a printed circuit board. This may be achieved by
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has been developed. Use of these materials however changes typically the process flow and needs different manufacturing tools.
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For improving accuracy, increasing integration density and improving line and space accuracy of traditional screen-printing
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Lasering before processing the substrates has a cost advantage to lasering or dicing using a diamond saw after processing.
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37th
International Symposium on Microelectronics (IMAPS 2004): Everything in Electronics...Between the Chip and the System
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Screen-printing is the process of transferring an ink through a patterned woven mesh screen or stencil using a
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Romenesko, B.M.; Falk, P.R.; Hoggarth, K.G. (1986). "Microelectronic Thick-film
Technology and Applications".
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Zhang, Z.; et, al. (2011). "Failure analysis of thick film resistors on stainless steel as sensing elements".
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As a low cost manufacturing method it is applicable to produce large volumes of discrete passive devices like
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571:"Partial Differential Equation-Based Process Control for Ultraviolet Curing of Thick Film Resins"
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2011 12th
International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology and High Density Packaging
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After firing, the substrate resistors are trimmed to the correct value. This process is named
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2010 5th
International Microsystems Packaging Assembly and Circuits Technology Conference
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A presentation describing the usage of the thick film technology for radio frequencies
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Lu, B. (2010). "Thick film hybrid technology for automotive applications".
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A typical thick-film process would consist of the following stages:
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101:(parts or elements/area or volume) with SMT based on PCB (
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A blog under EDN comparing thick and thin film resistors
351:. Springer International Publishing. pp. 707–721.
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and competes and complements typically in electronics
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Springer
Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials
149:, sometimes even some polymers and in rare cases even
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is used to produce electronic devices/modules such as
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Integrated
Passive Component Technology, Introduction
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Journal of
Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control
604:"Optimising Stencil Thickness and Ink Film Deposit"
39:. Main manufacturing technique is screen printing (
417:(Second ed.). Elsevier Inc. pp. 104–171.
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125:Typically thick film circuit substrates are Al
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277:Process control of thick film manufacturing
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239:Mounting of capacitors and semiconductors
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415:Hybrid Microcircuit Technology Handbook
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509:Ulrich, R.K.; Scharper, L.W. (2003).
153:(Si) coated with silicon dioxide (SiO
347:Kasap, S.; Capper, P., eds. (2017).
186:photoimageable thick-film technology
173:Screen-printing and its improvements
558:. S. White Company, Industrial Div.
294:tools which are used for designing
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292:electronic design automation
70:Thick Film Resistor Networks
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639:Printing thick film hybrids
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282:cost of the final product.
227:Laser trimming of resistors
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461:10.1109/ICEPT.2011.6066957
314:Integrated passive devices
95:hybrid integrated circuits
88:integrated passive devices
33:integrated passive devices
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513:. John Wiley & Sons.
438:10.13140/RG.2.1.1087.3369
329:Hybrid integrated circuit
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413:Andrew, W., ed. (1998).
324:Surface-mount technology
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53:surface-mount technology
296:printed circuit boards
261:Integration of devices
248:Separation of elements
121:Lasering of substrates
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492:Parikh, M.R. (1989).
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17:Thick-film technology
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303:See also
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610:: 6–16.
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37:sensors
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