Ceramic-metal interactions are on the basis of a variety of technologies covering the fields of materials production as in ceramic-metal composites and the techniques of joining ceramic to metal. The physics and chemistry of interactions at ceramic-metal interfaces are still the subject of intensive studies not only from a scientific point of view but also for technological reasons because the emergence of new ceramic materials calls for insight into the interactions of these materials with metals. In this paper the mechanisms of ceramic-metal interactions are reviewed against the background of the technology and some extensions of existing interaction models are given.

Eutectic bonding of copper to ceramics makes use of a liquid eutectic between copper and oxygen at 1065°C which wets oxide ceramics very well. Upon solidification of the eutectic melt a very strong bond is established which has a strength of about 5×107N/m2. The excellent bond strength gives this technique important applications in electronic packaging and mechanical engineering.

Aluminum nitride (AℓN) ceramic is emerging as an attractive substrate material for high performance heat sinking in hybrid circuits be -cause of its high thermal conductivity. We report on the application of the direct bonding technique for Cu on AℓN substrates. For successful bonds, the surface of the AℓN has to be oxidized. Oxidation rates are reported and the oxide morphology is analyzed. The peel strength of the Cu sheet depends on oxide thickness, growth method and Cu-type used. Under optimum conditions the peel strength exceeds 50 N/cm. A detailed analysis using optical microscopy as well as SEM, STEM, EDX, and electron diffraction techniques of the AℓN/Aℓ2O3/Cu interface is carried out.

In this paper, we report an electron microscopy study (SEM and TEM) of the Au-TiW-SiO2 structure annealed in ambient air up to 600°C. Scanning Auger microscopy has also been used to characterize the interfaces. Growth of pyramid- like structures was found to occur under heat treatment above 450°C. Volume increase and adhesion failure due to oxidation of the TiW layer and weak points in the Au top layer were found to be at the origin of this particular growth. Similar surface failures have been reported under oxidation at higher temperature for the tungsten silicide – SiO2 systems. According to the assumed growth mechanism, the necessary conditions for a pyramid growth have been defined and checked on another multilayer structure, that is the Au-Nb-SiO2 interface.