Accelerating densification of the terminal electrode with improved adhesion by sodium ions doping for MLCC copper paste

Glass frits effectively facilitate the sintering densification to produce high-density terminal electrodes, crucial for achieving high reliability of MLCC (Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors) devices. However, manufacturing terminal electrodes with high density and strong adhesion under low-temperature sintering condition still has enormous challenges. Herein, Na2O-BaO-ZnO-B2O3-SiO2 glass has been fabricated for low temperature sintering copper paste. We demonstrate that the densification degree and adhesion strength of the terminal electrode can be notably optimized by adjusting the Na2O content in the glass frit. The doping of Na+ in glass effectively improves the wettability of the melt on the copper substrate and the surface tension of the glass melt, enhancing the capillary force in the liquid phase sintering process. The rate of electrode densification is accelerated by the increase in capillary force, thus reducing the sheet resistance of copper film from 4.52 to 4.30 mΩ/□. Furthermore, with the increase in the Na+ content, the work of adhesion between glass and ceramic gradually increases, which effectively enhances the shear strength of the electrode from 19.66 MPa to 29.55 MPa. Our work provides novel insights for the design of glass compositions in the field of terminal paste.