Influences of Particle Size of Alumina Filler in an LTCC System

A low temperature co‐fired ceramics system consisting of a typical calcium aluminoborosilicate glass and alumina filler was used to investigate the effects of four different sizes, 13 nm, 0.5, 3, and 39 μm, of a commercially available alumina filler on the resultant densification, crystallization, and dielectric properties. There was definitely a proper range of alumina particle size, which leads to desirable densification and enhanced dielectric properties. The onset temperatures of densification and crystallization depended strongly on the filler particle size. The 3 μm sample as an optimum filler size exhibited a promising performance of k ∼8.1 and Q ∼160 at a resonant frequency of 14.8 GHz, which results from early densification and intensive crystallization of the anorthite CaAl 2 Si 2 O 8 phase. Particularly, the use of nano‐sized alumina (13 nm) retarded both densification by ∼200°C and crystallization by ∼80°C compared with the results of the 3 μm alumina case. The dependence of the filler particle size was postulated as being related to the wetting and connectivity behavior of glass through consequent inter‐reactions between glass and ceramic.