PROGRAMMABLE THICK FILM NETWORKS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME

Abstract: A programmable thick film network, comprising at least one energy sensitive fusible device fabricated by thick film techniques in which a fuse element is sandwiched between two glazes on a substrate.

Description: The invention relates to programmable thick film networks used in attenuators, voltage dividers and similar circuits comprising at least one thick film fusible device and a method of manufacturing such a thick film fusible device. Fusible devices are well known in the prior art, their exact construction being a function of their application or use in a circuit. In many cases it is desirable to use thick film fusible devices for setting levels of attenuation in attenuators or fine tuning in voltage dividers. However, prior art devices have had several drawbacks. Some have had too low a resistance. Others have had restrictions on materials. Still others have been of a thin film type. A typical example of a precision electric fuse is disclosed in U.S.-A-3,401,452. This patent discloses a composite metal-glass fuse element having an electrically-conductive fuse metal extending between and electrically connecting spaced-apart fuse electrodes, and a layer of electrically insulating glass covering the metal layer in intimate contact therewith for quenching the fuse metal after it has been blown by a current overload, whereby arcs which tend to develop across the blown metal are effectively suppressed. The object of this patended device was to provide a precision miniature electrical fuse which produces a fast and decisive break at the rated breaking current. The use will remain intact through long periods of operation and only ruptures in the event of overload. In contrast, the fuse of the present invention intended to be intentionally blown for the purpose of programming a circuit. While similar in construction to this prior art patent, the fuse of the present invention differs in several notable respects. The object of the invention is a programmable thick film network, which is characterized in that it comprises at least one thick film fusible device, consisting of an electrically insulating alumina ceramic substrate, a layer of dielectric glaze screened on said substrate, a thick film conductor in the form of a pattern of a fusible link having a narrow segment deposited on and straddling said glass layer, said conductor being in electrical contact with termination pads which are provided on said substrate, and a second layer of glass deposited over said first layer of glaze and said narrow segment, said second layer confining said conductor pattern so that high energy released to said fusible link will cause said second layer of glass to rupture, releasing the conductive material and resulting in a high post fusing resistance. The invented programmable network comprises at least one precision miniature fusible device which is energy sensitive. Such a fusible device must have a very low initial resistance and a very high resistance after it is blown. The objects of the invention are realized by the use of a sandwich-type construction which allows post-fusing resistance in excess of 1 x 10¹⁰ ohms and typicallly greater than 1 x 10¹³ ohms. Without the sandwich-type construction post-fusing resistances as low as 1 x 10⁵ ohms are common due to the incomplete melting of the metal array or redeposition of the metal after vaporization. US-A-4.201.970 discloses a thick film network. It comprises a series of metallic conductors having a narrow neck. Said conductors are deposited by means of electroplating or in other ways on a metallic substrate, which substrate is coated with an electrical insulating material. There is no dielectric glaze present between the metallic conductors and the substrate. There is also no dielectric glaze present on top of said conductors. The device according to the present invention is formed by screening a layer of dielectric glass or glaze on an alumina substrate, air drying the glaze and then firing the glaze at 850°C to 1000°C for five to ten minutes. A thick film conductor paste in the form of a desired fuse pattern is then applied in such a manner that a narrow part of the pattern straddles the glaze layer. The conductor paste is then air dried. A final layer of glaze is applied over the first layer of glaze and the narrow segment of the conductor pattern. The final layer of glaze and the conductor material are then co-fired at 800 to 900°C. The resulting fuse element will blow or melt away when exposed to continuous high current or to an instantaneous high energy surge. The current or energy needed to cause the fusing action is dependent on the width of the metal conductor. The use of the sandwich-type construction has several advantages. The glaze may be a nonorganic dielectric compatible with thick film techniques, including all commercially available cross-over materials. The conductor may be any noble or non-noble conductive material or resistive material. The conductor pattern can be of any geometry and of any width. Under certain circumstances, the bottom layer of glaze may be eliminated. This would be a function of compatibility of materials. The invention is illustrated with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the thick fuse element of the present invention deposited on a substrate. Figure 2 is a top plan view of a conductive pattern which may be used in the thick film fuse element of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of a programmable voltage regulator incorporating the present invention. Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of a standard inverting operational amplifier. Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of a programmable operation amplifier using the present invention. Figure 6 is a schematic layout for a programmable thick film attenuator using the present invention. Figure 7 is a block diagram of a method for programming the attenuator of Figure 6. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thick film fuse device made by sandwiching a narrow thick film metal strip between two layers of a dielectric glaze or glass. Fuse 10 is formed by screening a layer of dielectric glass or glaze 19 on an alumina substrate 11. After deposition of the glaze 12 on substrate 11, the glaze is air dried and then fired at 850 to 1000°C for five to ten minutes. Thereafter, a thick film conductor paste 13 in the form of the pattern shown in Figure 2 is then applied in such a manner that the narrow part of the pattern 15 (typically .004 inches to .010 inches wide) straddles the glaze layer 12. The fuse terminal portions 16 are in the form of pads or projections extending perpendicularly to the narrow portion 15 which constitutes the fuse electrode. The fuse terminal portions 16 are in physical and electrical contact with conventional terminations 17. Thus a convergent path of high conductivity is provided. If the terminations 17 are of a different material than the fuse element 13, it is usually desirable to screen and fire the termination material to the substrate prior to deposition of the first layer of dielectric glaze 12. The conductor paste 13 is then air dried. A final layer of glaze 14 is applied over the first layer of glaze and the narrow segment 15 of the conductor pattern. The final layer of glaze 14 and the conductor material 13 are than co-fired at 800 to 900°C. The fuse element 13 is preferably palladium gold. The terminations 17 are preferably palladium silver. The resulting fuse element 13 will blow or melt away when exposed to continuous high current or to an instantaneous high energy surge such as that provided by a charged electrolytic capacitor. The current or energy needed to cause the fusing action is dependent on the width of the metal conductor 15. A typical energy level needed to provide adequate rupture is about 8 to 10 joules for a .006" wide by .20" long palladium gold fuse element. The glazes 12, 14 used may be a nonorganic dielectric compatible with thick film techniques. This includes all commercially available cross-over materials. The conductor 13 may be any noble or non-noble conductor material or resistive materials. The conductor pattern may be of any geometry and of any width. The most preferred substrate material 11 is 96 % alumina ceramic. It is the most common and cost effective material for the construction of thick film networks. Other alumina ceramic formulations could also be used. A lead-boro-silicate low temperature glass formulation such as those commonly used as crossover or multilayer dielectrics in thick film networks is the preferred dielectric glaze for deposition beneath and over the fuse element 13. Silk screening is the preferred method of application. The purpose of the lowr layer of glaze 12 is to thermally isolate the fuse element from the ceramic substrate 11. The upper layer of glaze 14 confines the energy released into the fuse 13 causing a microexplosion which ruptures the overglaze. This rupture allows the vaporized metal of the fuse element to escape and promotes a significant break in the fuse element itself. This accounts for the high open circuit resistance which is characteristic of this invention. The preferred metal components for the fuse element are either all palladium gold or a combination of palladium-silver and palladium-gold. Palladium silver is preferred for the terminating pads 17 of the fuse element because of its lower cost and compatability with common thick film resistor materials. This latter item is essential when fabricating programmable networks. Palladium-gold is the preferred metal for the fuse element 13 itself because it provides a high open circuit resistance and once blown is much less susceptable to metal migration under high humidity conditions than silver or silver bearing alloys. Both palladium-silver and palladium-gold are common, commercially available thick film conductor formulations. Other thick film conductor materials such as platinum-silver, platinum-gold, or gold could also be used. The invention thus provides a fusible device 10 and a method of manufacturing this fusible device using thick film materials and technologies. The fuse element 13 must have a very low initial resistance and a verh high resistance after it is blown. The novel sandwich-type construction allows post-fusing resistance in excess of 1 x 10¹⁰ ohms and typically greater than 1 x 10¹³ ohms. Without the sandwich-type construction, post-fusing resistances as low as 1 x 10⁵ ohms are common due to incomplete melting of the metal or redeposition of the metal after vaporization. When constructing electronic circuits with critical or precision performance parameters it is necessary to adjust certain components within the circuit to compensate for the tolerances of other components within the circuit. Most often the component selected for adjustment is a resistor. Common adjustment techniques include hand selecting a resistor from a range of value and soldering it into the circuit or including a variable resistor or trimmer resistor in the circuit that can be adjusted to provide the desired circuit performance. These methods tend to be cumbersome or costly. One application of this invention is to fabricate thick film fusable elements in series with thick film resistors in such a manner so that when the resulting resistor/fuse network is contained within an electronic circuit the performance of the circuit can be changed to the desired level by selectively blowing the appropriate fuse elements. The voltage divider shown in Figure 3 is a typical example. Initially all fuse elements (F A thru F E are closed and where R T is the parallel combination of R A thru R E . By opening the appropriate or the appropriate combination of the fuse elements F A thru F E the resistor(s) in series with the fuses(s) will be removed from the circuit and the value of V OUT will change correspondingly. For instance, if it is determined that the desired value of V OUT can be obtained by removing R D from the circuit, a large value capacitor can be discharged across programming terminals D and F and fuse element F D will blow open and R D will be disconnected from the circuit. V OUT will now change as follows: where R T1 is the parallel combination of R A , R B , R C and RE only. Likewise this fuse/resistor network can be used to set the gain of an operational amplifier, such as the inverting amplifier configuration shown in Figure 4. The gain of this amplifier is established by the input and the feedback resistors as follows: By substituting a resistor/fuse network for R f as shown in Figure 5, the gain can be programmed by blowing the appropriate fuse elements. Although the above examples only show five resistor/fuse combinations in parallel, any number within reason could be so constructed. A third example is the application of this invention to a programmable "O" pad type attenuator. The telephone industry uses many "O" pad type attenuators to balance the signal level on incoming lines. These attenuators must be adjustable and typically cover the range of 0 to 1.5 db in .1 db increments or 0 to 15 db in 1 db steps. Several companies such as Bourns have in recent years introduced attenuators of this type mounted in DIP switch configurations. These attenuators are relatively expensive and the need for switches is questionable since the attenuation is usually a one time setting. The programmable approach provides the same function at a reduced cost. Figure 6 shows a feasible layout for a 0 - 15 db attenuator, which can be fabricated on a 2" X . 5" substrate. It is a single-in-line package with leads projecting from the top for programming purposes. All of the sixteen resistors (four balanced "O" pads) are screened on one side of the substrate and the fusable links on the other. Initially the module has no attenuation. To obtain 1 db attenuation, for example, the F A fuses for the 1 db pad and the F B fuses for the remaining three pads would be blown open. Other values of attenuation can be obtained by initially blowing the appropriate combination of F A and F B fuses. This basic construction can also be used to produce unbalanced "O" pads (π configuration) and balanced ("H" pads) or unbalanced "T" pads. Programming can be accomplished with a small box 70 containing a charged capacitor and a set of approximately wired switches 76, as shown in Figure 7. A cable 72 and connector 74 would extend from the control box. By mating the connector with the top leads of the module 78 and pressing the proper buttons, the attenuator can be quickly and readily programmed to the desired attenuation. There are two notable limitations of this invention. First it is difficult to establish a blowing point with precision. Generally minimum energy levels are determined and energy pulses well in excess of the minimum are used to assure optimum rupture. Second, because it is desirable to rupture through the top layer of glaze, the devices are not recommended for use in volatile atmospheres.

Claims: A programmable thick film network, characterized in that it comprises at least one thick film fusible device consisting of an electrically insulating alumina ceramic substrate, a layer of dielectric glass screened on said substrate, a thick film conductor in the form of a pattern of a fusible link having a narrow segment deposited on and straddling said glass layer, said conductor being in electrical contact with termination pads which are provided on said substrate, and a second layer of glass deposited over said first layer of glass and said narrow segment, said second layer confining said conductor pattern so that high energy released to said fusible link will cause said second layer of glass to rupture, releasing the conductive material and resulting in a high post-fusing resistance. A method for the manufacturing of a thick film fusible device for use in a programmable thick film network as claimed in Claim 1 comprising the steps of: providing an electrically insulating alumina ceramic substrate; applying thick film conductor termination pads of a first conductive material onto said substrate; firing said termination pads; screening a layer of dielectric glass on said substrate between the thick film conductor termination pads; air drying said layer of dielectric glass; firing said layer of dielectric glass at 850 to 1000°C for five to ten minutes; applying a thick film conductor paste of a second conductive material in the form of a pattern of a fusible link to said substrate and said glass layer in such a manner that the narrow part of the conductor pattern straddles the glass layer; air drying said conductor paste; applying a second layer of said dielectric glass over said first layer of glass and the narrow segment of said conductor pattern to confine the conductor pattern so that high energy released to the fuse element will cause said second layer of glass to rupture, releasing the conductor material and resulting in a high post-fusing resistance; co-firing said second layer of glass and said conductor material at 800 to 900°C. A method for the manufacturing of a thick film fusible device for use in a programmable thick film network as claimed in Claim 1 comprising the steps of: providing an electrically insulating alumina ceramic substrate; applying a thick film conductor paste in the form of a pattern of a fusible link to said substrate and said glass layer in such a manner that the narrow part of the conductor pattern straddles the glass layer, at the same time applying thick film conductor termination pads of the same conductive material as an integral part of the fuse element air drying said conductor paste; applying a second layer of said dielectric glass over said first layer of glass and the narrow segment of said conductor pattern to confine the conductor patterns so that high energy released to the fuse element will cause said second layer of glass to rupture, releasing the conductor material and resulting in a high post-fusing resistance.

Inventors: HILGERS, JOHN LOUIS
Applicants: CENTRALAB INC.
Application year: 1984
Main classification: H03H1
IPC codes: H01L23, H03H1, H05K3, H05K1, H01L21, H01L27, H01H85, H03F3, H03H7, H03G1