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Effect of Repeated Firing on the Resistance of Screen-Printed Thick-Film Conductors

D. Ortolino, A. Engelbrecht, H. Lauterbach, M. Bräu, J. Kita, R. Moos

Journal of Ceramic Science and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 4 (2014), pp. 317-326

DOI: 10.4416/JCST2014-00029

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Abstract

In this paper, the effect of repeated sintering cycles on the resistance of four different thick-film conductor pastes was investigated. Silver, gold, silver-platinum and silver-palladium pastes are widely used in thick-film technology. Their electrical resistance (R) and their temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) are important material properties. Screen-printed metallization layers were fired repeatedly and their electrical resistance was measured simultaneously during heating and cooling. It was found that the resistances change with increasing number of firing steps and that they run asymptotically to a final value. Light-optical and SEM-EDX analyses explained this behavior. Inorganic compounds of the paste diffuse into the ceramic substrate. The diffusion follows a parabolic diffusion law. A strong correlation between material diffusion and resistance change is found.

Keywords

Thick-film, screen-printing, conductor, gold, silver, silver-palladium, silver-platinum, resistance, TCR, temperature cycling, firing, sintering, material diffusion

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