Liquid-Film-Assisted Ceramic-Metal Bonding

工程陶瓷是许多结构、生物和微电子应用的候选材料。直接制造大型复杂的陶瓷结构是困难的，并且通常使用涉及较小部件的组装和连接的方法。当陶瓷部件被结合到金属基结构中以利用其独特的性能时，连接也常常是必要的。组装过程中产生的接口和接头质量会影响器械性能。与连接陶瓷相关的困难可能会限制或阻止它们的使用。这项工作将探索一种新的方法来连接结构陶瓷通过箔中间层的基础上高熔点金属。将陶瓷连接到难熔金属通常涉及需要升高的温度、长时间、显著的结合压力以及待连接表面的极其仔细的准备的过程。这些特征使得这些组合和这些方法对于大规模生产没有吸引力。所提出的工作的智力价值集中在探索使用结合高熔点金属Nb和低熔点金属Ni的非常薄的涂层的多层中间层，以提供可以在降低的温度下实施的接合工艺，以借助于液体膜辅助的，瞬时液相键合工艺，不需要表面处理或高键合压力。这种制造友好工艺的更广泛的影响包括创造许多新的机会，以更容易和经济地制造具有新功能的陶瓷基或含陶瓷的装置。作为研究基础的基础科学方法将有助于促进将加入方法扩展到其他系统，同时教育和培训这一重要领域的年轻研究人员。

Engineering ceramics are candidates for many structural, biological, and microelectronics applications. Direct fabrication of large, complex ceramic structures is difficult, and an approach that involves the assembly and joining of smaller components is often used. Joining is also often necessary when ceramic components are incorporated into metal-based structures to exploit their unique properties. The quality of the interfaces and joints produced during assembly impacts device performance. The difficulties associated with joining ceramics can limit or prevent their use. The proposed work will explore a novel approach to joining structural ceramics by means of foil interlayers based on high-melting-point metals. Joining ceramics to refractory metals has generally involved processes that require elevated temperature, long times, significant bonding pressure, and extremely careful preparation of the surfaces to be joined. Such characteristics make these combinations and these processes unattractive for mass production. The intellectual merit of the proposed work is focused on exploring the use of a multilayer interlayer combining a high-melting-point metal, Nb, and very thin coating layers of a lower-melting-point metal, Ni, to provide a joining process that can be implemented at reduced temperatures to rapidly produce robust, reliable refractory joints by means of a liquid-film-assisted, transient-liquid-phase bonding processing that does not require scrupulous surface preparation or high bonding pressures. The broader impact of such a manufacturing-friendly process includes the creation of many new opportunities to more easily and economically fabricate ceramic-based or ceramic-containing devices with new functionality. The basic science approach underlying the study will help facilitate the extension of the joining approach to other systems, while educating and training young researchers in this vital area.