The LTCC device for miniature plasma generators characterization

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is a presentation of a miniature vertical dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma generators. The presented devices, with sub- and superstrate, were made using low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC). Such construction allowed to measure discharge spectra and device temperature easily. Design/methodology/approach The generators were made in the Du Pont 951 system with silver vertical metallizations and PdAg contacts. The devices had electrodes with different width and height. Also, the distance between them could be established. They were placed on substrate with buried temperature sensor and covered with a ceramic lid. The lid had opening to measure emitted light. Different configurations of vertical DBD were tested. Findings Geometry of vertical metallizations influences on spectra, as well as distance between them. Signal-to-noise ratio had a maximum for certain generators and can be measured by the intensity of highest peak. Research limitations/implications Height of vertical metallizations is limited by the difference in shrinkage of LTCC tape and via paste. Parameters of temperature sensors vary between measurements, according to rapid changes of temperature and presence of strong electric field. Practical implications The generators can be used for creating discharge for optical emission spectrometry. It is a convenient method to determine the amount of selected gas compounds. Originality/value This paper shows fabrication and performance of the novel vertical DBD generators with ceramic additions for convenient spectra measurement and monitoring temperature of the device during work.

Additive manufacturing revolution in ceramic microsystems

“…Whenever there are demanding conditions, such as harsh chemical environment, high thermal loads or extreme pressures, then ceramics is the material of choice. A number of electronic applications for ceramics have already been shown, using mostly low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC), from high-voltage (Dąbrowski et al , 2018), high-temperature (Dziedzic and Nowak, 2013) circuits and thermoelectric transducers (Markowski et al , 2019) to highly integrated devices, plasma reactors (Macioszczyk et al , 2016), microwave (Malecha et al , 2019) and microfluidic (Nawrot et al , 2018a, 2018b) structures. It has been proven many times that ceramic is a versatile material, unparalleled for complex microsystem manufacturing.…”

Plasma Jets Fabricated in Low-Temperature Cofired Ceramics for Gold Nanoparticles Synthesis

“…The ability of LTCC to fabricate multilayer circuits opens this technology to microsystem technology (MST), which is applied in the production of various sensors [ 5 ]. The LTCC has already been used for fabrication of plasma generators [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ] for s elements in liquidous solutions [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] or flowing gas [ 10 ].…”