Method for making a ceramic to metal hermetic seal
AssigneeOlin Corporation
InventorsSteven A. Tower, Brian Mravic
Life of this patent
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Abstract
To hermetically seal an optically transparent ceramic or glass member to a metallic housing, an aperture with a diameter less than the diameter of the member is formed through the metallic housing. The member is then press-fit into the aperture, partially displacing metal from the walls of the aperture, forming an inner burr circumscribing the aperture. The walls of the aperture and the circumscribing burr are then coated with a second metal, preferably electroless nickel. The resultant seal maintains hermeticity following thermal cycling and is particularly suited for the manufacture of a hybrid electronic package having an optical or opto-electronic coupling.
Claims14
A process for making a hermetic seal between a brittle, non-metallic, member and a metallic housing, comprising the steps of:
- a) forming said metallic housing from a metal having a first coefficient of thermal expansion;
- b) extending an aperture having a first diameter through said metallic housing;
- c) inserting said member to an intermediate point of said aperture, said member having a second coefficient of thermal expansion and a second diameter wherein said second diameter is greater than said first diameter thereby creating a burr on a surface of said metallic housing;
- and
- d) coating surfaces of said aperture that do not contact said member and coating said burr with a metallic coating to a thickness effective to hermetically seal said member to said metallic housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.