Metallization of ceramic through application of an adherent reducible layer

Abstract

The present invention provides improved techniques for metallizing ceramic substrates. The method comprises providing a ceramic substrate and depositing a layer of reducible material on the ceramic substrate. The layer of reducible material includes a reducible ceramic such as copper oxide. The ceramic substrate having the layer of reducible material disposed thereon is heated and the reducible material is contacted with a reducing agent to create a conductive region. The conductive region is either a metallized region formed by reduction, or it is a conductive ceramic formed through surface reduction. The present invention further provides a metallized ceramic substrate. The metallized layer comprises ceramic regions having at least one constituent in common with the ceramic substrate. The ceramic substrate and the ceramic regions of the metallized layer are sintered to each other such that the metallized region is interspersed between the sintered ceramic regions. In this fashion, the metal is firmly held to the ceramic substrate due to the presence of the bonded ceramic within the metallized layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.