Fabrication of a low temperature co-fired ceramic package using powder blasting technology

This paper presents the application of the powder blasting technique for the fabrication of a low temperature co-fired ceramic package that is to host an optical sensor device. The package consists of several layers of green tape ceramic featuring aperture sizes ranging from 3 to 0.1 mm in diameter. These layers have been patterned using fine alumina particles of 9 μm in diameter in combination with an electroplated nickel mask coated with a protective layer. The latter is based on a photosensitive material laid down on top of the metallic surface, exposed and developed to free the metal apertures from the coating. The results show that the wide range of apertures size present in the mask can be used to machine the green ceramic. The quality of the structures is smooth and vias shapes are perfectly circular. These results were obtained at 50 psi with a flow rate of 0.20 g/s for a distance of 20 mm between the tip of the nozzle and the substrate.