A Novel Low Temperature Process for Microwave Dielectric Ceramics Metallization

This research proposes a novel low temperature process for microwave dielectric ceramics metallization with laser patterning and electroless copper plating. The process temperature of the proposed process is less than 50 °C, which is much lower than typical metallization technology, such as Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) and Direct Bond Copper (DBC). Compared with LTCC and DBC, the proposed low temperature process can significantly reduce energy consumption, cut cost for cooling equipment, and offer smaller metal pattern variations. The measurement results demonstrate the line width error and the line position precision are all within ±50 μm. Moreover, this proposed process produces no short circuit or incomplete metallization in the walls of the holes. The measurement and simulation results demonstrate the manufactured samples meet the bandpass filter design specifications. Therefore, the proposed low temperature process is practical and adequate for producing microwave dielectric ceramics.