Patent ID: 8444913

Claim:
A method of assembling a member on a support by sintering a mass of conductive powder to form a joint between the member and the support, in which the mass is heated to a predetermined temperature, wherein, prior to heating the mass, the following steps are performed: placing the conductive powder mass on the support, and then the member on the mass; applying a compression force urging the member against the mass and the support, and causing the magnitude of the compression force to be varied in such a manner that: the magnitude is increased from an initial value to a first predefined value for agglomerating the mass, which value is less than a plastic deformation threshold of the powder mass; maintaining the magnitude at the first predefined value throughout a predetermined duration for agglomerating the powder mass; and increasing the magnitude from the first value to a second predefined value less than a critical threshold for damaging the member but greater than a minimum threshold for sintering the mass at the predetermined temperature, the second predefined value being greater than the first predefined value.