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Metallization of Thin Al2O3 Layers in Power Electronics Using Cold Gas Spraying

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Abstract

A successful combination of insulating substrates with conducting metal coatings produced by cold spraying could open new industrial application areas like the fabrication of power electronic components. For minimizing the number of industrial process steps, insulating ceramic layers should ideally be processed by thermal spray techniques. Thus, this study investigates the impact behavior and coating formation of ductile metallic feedstock powders onto brittle ceramic coatings. With respect to high electrical conductivity of the metallic lines and good electrical insulation of the ceramic interlayer, copper was cold gas sprayed on previously thermally sprayed Al2O3 coatings. Successful cold coating formation requires different strategies for the activation of the ceramic layer to increase adhesion and to avoid brittle failure. These both can be achieved either by applying a bondcoat on the ceramic layer or using heated substrates during the cold spray process.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Julian Engelen and the laboratory staff, in alphabetical order Thomas Breckwoldt, Herbert Hübner, Heinz-Dieter Müller, Norbert Németh, Camilla Schulze, Matthias Schulze, and Uwe Wagener, for their support in this study. The authors also wish to thank Thorsten Stoltenhoff, Praxair Surface Technologies GmbH, Germany, for supplying D-gun alumina coatings, and Filofteia-Laura Toma, Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Fh-IWS), Dresden, Germany, for supplying HVOF-sprayed alumina coatings. Financial support of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) within the programs “InnoNet” (Grant No. 16IN0695) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Materials Technology, Helmut Schmidt University, University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany

    Kerstin-Raffaela Donner, Frank Gaertner & Thomas Klassen

Authors
  1. Kerstin-Raffaela Donner
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  2. Frank Gaertner
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  3. Thomas Klassen
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Correspondence to Kerstin-Raffaela Donner.

Additional information

This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2010 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Thermal Spray: Global Solutions for Future Applications, Proceedings of the 2010 International Thermal Spray Conference, Singapore, May 3-5, 2010, Basil R. Marple, Arvind Agarwal, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2011.

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Donner, KR., Gaertner, F. & Klassen, T. Metallization of Thin Al2O3 Layers in Power Electronics Using Cold Gas Spraying. J Therm Spray Tech 20, 299–306 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-010-9573-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-010-9573-1

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