Patent ID: 7175724

Claim:
A method of making a low temperature co-fired ceramic structure comprising: providing a laminate consisting essentially of an upper portion and a lower portion wherein each portion comprises an assembly of one or more layers of glass-containing primary tape and two or more layers of glass-containing internal self-constraining tape, wherein the dielectric constant of each of the layers of glass-containing tape is the same and wherein, upon thermal processing, the glass of the constraining tape develops in excess of 50 volume % crystalline phases and wherein the glass in the primary tape is crystallizable glass and the glass of the constraining tape is crystallizable glass wherein each portion has z-axis symmetry with respect to the tape layers of the portion, wherein each self-constraining tape can independently provide a self-constraining pressure-less assisted sintering LTCC assembly with the primary tape, and wherein the internal constraining tapes and the primary tape are laminated to form a compositionally asymmetrical laminate; and thermally processing the laminate, wherein the glass of the internal self-constraining tape initiates sintering to attain a rigid form before the onset of sintering of the primary tape, wherein the thermally processing results in a structure exhibiting an interactive suppression of x,y shrinkage to less than 0.5 percent.