Mircowave sintering of multilayer dielectrics with base metal electrodes
AssigneeThe Penn State Research Foundation
InventorsThomas R. Shrout, Dinesh Agrawal, Balasubramaniam Vaidhyanathan
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Abstract
Certain embodiments relate to a process for forming a multilayer electrical device. The process includes providing a multilayer structure including layers of a dielectric material and an electrode material. The electrode material may include at least one material selected from the group consisting of nickel and copper. A variety of dielectric materials may be used, such as barium titanate. The method also includes sintering the dielectric material by heating the structure using microwaves in an industrial nitrogen atmosphere, which contains an oxygen partial pressure of 10−2 to 10−12 atm.
Claims26
A process for forming a multilayer electrical device, comprising:
- providing a multilayer structure including layers of a dielectric material and an electrode material, the electrode material comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of nickel and copper;
- and
- sintering the dielectric material by heating the structure using microwaves in an atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of no greater than 10−2 atm.
A process for forming an electronic device including a dielectric material and at least one metal electrode, comprising:
- forming a structure including at least one layer of a base metal electrode material embedded between layers of dielectric material;
- and
- microwave heating the structure in an atmosphere containing oxygen at a pressure in the range of 10−2 to 10−12 atm, wherein the dielectric material is densified and the base metal electrode remains a metal after the microwave heating.
A process for forming multilayer capacitors, comprising:
- providing a first layer of a dielectric material;
- providing a second layer of a electrode material including at least one metal selected from the group consisting of nickel and copper;
- alternating the first and second layers to form a multilayer structure;
- and
- microwave heating the multilayer structure in an atmosphere including oxygen at a pressure of no greater than 10−2 atm to sinter the dielectric material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.