The effects of substrate composition on thick film circuit reliability

Measurements of the high temperature viscosities and surface tensions of thick film glasses, as a function of temperature and amount of AlsiMag 614 substrate dissolved in the glasses, were completed. Both glass properties were observed to increase with increasing amount of dissolved substrate at all temperatures. The non-sintered contacts occurring in the RuO2 networks of thick film resistors were modeled using MIM devices. The dominant charge transport mechanism for glass films =7nm at room temperature and above was Schottky emission; for thinner films and/or lower temperature, quantum mechanical tunneling becomes important.