The principal steps of thick film technology are screen printing of pastes onto ceramic substrates and - after leveling and drying - firing them at a typical temperature of 850 deg C.

 

Screen printing is the basic layer deposition and patterning process in thick film technology. It followed by the firing process, which fabrication step creates the layer structure and - as a consequence, together with the materials characteristics - defines the properties of the thick film components.

 

Laser trimming of the integrated resistors is used to adjust the resistors to an accurate value.

 

Further important processing steps of thick film technology include print-and-fire of the solder resist, solder paste printing, soldering leads to the interconnection patterns, encapsulation, testing and marking.

 

This module provides a step-by-step review of the most important thick film fabrication processes