Ceramic to noble metal braze and method of manufacture

A method of hermetically sealing a ceramic and metal component assembly, comprising the steps of:

• selecting a ceramic part;
• selecting a noble metal part;
• selecting an interlayer material being compatible with said ceramic part, said interlayer material being capable of forming alloys, intermetallics or solid solutions with said metal part, said interlayer material having a liquidus temperature and said noble metal part having a melting point;
• interposing said interlayer material between said ceramic part and said metal part;
• applying a force to said ceramic part and said metal part to place said interposed interlayer material in compression;
• placing said assembly in a non-reactive atmosphere;
• heating said assembly to a bonding temperature between said liquidus temperature of said interlayer material and said melting point of said noble metal part;
• holding said assembly at said bonding temperature for a predetermined time to form a bond between said ceramic part and said noble metal part;
• and
• cooling the assembly.

A method of bonding a noble metal part to a ceramic part making a hermetically sealed component assembly, comprising the steps of:

• selecting said ceramic part from the group comprised of tetragonal zirconia polycrystal ceramic;
• selecting said metal part from the group consisting of platinum, iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, and their respective alloys;
• interposing a laminate titanium-nickel foil between said ceramic part and said metal part;
• applying a force to said ceramic part and said metal part to place said titanium-nickel foil in compression;
• placing said component assembly in a non-reactive atmosphere;
• heating said component assembly to between approximately 960° C. and 1080° C. for between approximately 1 and 60 minutes;
• and cooling said component assembly.

A method of bonding a ceramic part to a metal part, having a melting point, to form a component assembly for placement in living tissue in which an interlayer material, having a liquidus temperature, is placed between the ceramic part and the metal part, applying a compressive force of 20 to 2000 psi to said ceramic part and said metal part placing said interlayer material in compression, said interlayer material capable of forming alloys, intermetallics or solid solutions with said metal part, and in which said component assembly is placed at a bonding temperature, for a predetermined time, that is less than the melting point of said metal part, but greater than the liquidus temperature of said interlayer material, and selecting said ceramic part from the group consisting of alumina, titania, zirconia, stabilized-zirconia, partially-stabilized zirconia, tetragonal zirconia, magnesia-stabilized zirconia, ceria-stabilized zirconia, yttria-stabilized zirconia, and calcia-stabilized zirconia, wherein the improvement comprises:

• selecting said metal part from a noble metal;
• selecting said interlayer material to be titanium-nickel;
• and
• selecting said bonding temperature between approximately 960° C. and 1080° C.