Henryk Roguszczak

Novel technological and constructional solutions of pressure sensors made in LTCC technology

This paper describes the design, technology aspects and exploitation parameters of thick film pressure sensors manufactured in LTCC technology.

Three-dimensional fluidic microsystem fabricated in Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic Technology

A three-dimensional (3D) Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) fluidic microsystem integrated with an optical detection unit is presented in this article. The structure is applied to quantitative analysis of chemical compounds using colorimetric methods. The fabricated microfluidic system consists of a serpentine mixer, fluidic channels, heater, embedded temperature sensor and integrated optical fibers for detection of light transmission and/or fluorescence. A new inexpensive material for the embedded temperature sensor is described. The fluidic system is designed using computer CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. Fluid flow in the mixer is observed through a transparent polymer material bonded to the LTCC structure. The importance of positioning of optical fibers and their influence on the absorbance and fluorescence measurements is presented.

LTCC liquid conductivity detector

The design, technology and basic characteristics of the LTCC conductivity detector are presented. The finite element analysis (Ansys program) was applied to calculate the influence of the detector and electrodes geometry on the electrical properties. The electric potential and current density distributions inside the detector channel were analysed. The detector design was carried out on the base of ANSYS simulation. The detector was fabricated in typical LTCC process. YAG laser system was used for electrode fine line patterning and shaping the channels. The detector was tested by measurements of KCl solution with various concentration.

LTCC Breakdown Voltage Investigation

Abstract High voltage properties of the LTCC (Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics) cofired ceramic tape are presented. Chauvin Arnoux C.A. 6555 insulation tester is used to measure the leakage current and the resistance. Measurement is possible up to 15 kV. The DuPont 951 test structures are manufactured. The electrodes are fabricated of Ag (DP 6142) and PdAg (DP 6146) pastes. The leakage current dependence upon the temperature up to 320°C is measured. The ceramics properties depend on the temperature, especially beyond 200°C. Moreover, the current characteristics as a function of electrical field are presented and the breakdown voltage is determined.

Mechanical properties of SMD interconnections on flexible and rigid substrates

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate on the mechanical properties of surface-mount device (SMD) interconnections made on flexible and rigid substrates. Design/methodology/approach – The durability of joints to shear strength was measured with tensile machine. Investigations were carried out for 0402- and 0603-sized ceramic passives and integrated circuits in SOIC-8, TSSOP-8, XSON3 and XSON6 packages. Three types of flexible substrates (Kapton, Mylar and Pyralux) and two types of rigid substrates (LTCC and alumina) were used. SMD components were mounted with SAC solder or electrically conductive adhesive. Contact pads were made of Ag-based polymer paste on flexible substrates and PdAg-based cermet paste on ceramics. The shear strength was measured for as-made and long-term thermally aged test structures. The average durability and standard deviation were compared for different combination of materials. Moreover, mechanical properties of interconnections made of polymer thick-film pastes or electrically/...

LTCC Piezoelectric Transducer for Energy Harvesting

In this paper, design, technology and properties of multi cantilever transducer for energy harvesting application were described. The piezoelectric transducer was made in LTCC (Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics) technology using PZT (Lead Zirconate-Titanate) based tape. In such devices the highest power can be reached at resonance frequencies of the cantilevers. Eight bimorph transducers with lengths corresponding to 33, 50, 58, 66, 75, 82, 91 and 100 Hz resonant frequency, were designed. The transducers were polarized in serial or parallel configuration. To avoid voltage reduction in the system of a few piezoelectric bimorphs, rectifiers were applied for each cantilever. Transducers had optimum resistance in ranges of 60–140 kΩ and 300–600 kΩ for bimorphs poled in parallel and serial configuration, respectively. The mean output power under sinusoidal excitation with 20 μm vibration amplitude calculated from all maxima at resonant frequencies for optimum load, were equal to 10.3 μW and 12.4μW for parallel ...