TY - JOUR A1 - Mieller, Björn A1 - Rabe, Torsten T1 - Surface characteristics of LTCC substrates fabricated by pressure-assisted sintering T2 - Journal of microelectronics and electronic packaging N2 - Plane LTCC substrates can be produced in zeroshrinkage technology by pressure-assisted sintering. The application of axial pressure during sintering supports densification, enhances cofiring of different materials, and restrains deformation. However, the sintered surfaces are affected by the release tapes and by the setters used in the pressure-assisted sintering process. In this study, the effect of release tape particle size on the surface properties of sintered substrates was investigated. Moreover, the substitution of release tape by the use of a vitreous carbon setter was tested. Surface roughness and sheet resistances of metallic thin films on the respective samples were determined. It was found that the roughness of the substrates is not directly correlated with the adequacy of the surface for thin-film deposition. Compared with a freely sintered sample with an average roughness (Ra) of 0.31 μm, pressure-assisted sintering created smoother surfaces using finegrained release tapes (Ra = 0.18 μm) and rougher surfaces using coarse release tapes (Ra = 0.46 μm). Still, sheet resistances were higher on all sinter-pressed samples. The vitreous carbon setter created unusual trenched surface structures, characterized by varying roughness values and intermediate sheet resistances on the LTCCs tested. CY - Washington, DC PY - 2013 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/30331 AN - OPUS4-30331 SN - 1551-4897 N1 - Geburtsname von Mieller, Björn: Brandt, B. - Birth name of Mieller, Björn: Brandt, B. VL - 10 IS - 4 SP - 144 EP - 149 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany