High-Performance Electronics Ceramic PCB Manufacturing
Some electronic products require substrate performance that standard FR-4 and polyimide materials cannot provide. Ceramic printed circuit boards feature inorganic substrates (alumina, aluminium nitride or silicon nitride) that allow for extremely high thermal conductivity, high frequency performance and wide temperature range operation.
PCB Company UK offers ceramic PCB products to engineers in the UK in the RF and microwave, medical devices, aerospace, power semiconductors and high reliability industrial systems.
What is special about Ceramic PCBs?
Traditional PCBs are made with organic resins (epoxy, polyimide) combined with glass fibre. These materials are suitable for general electronics but limited at high temperatures, high frequencies and high power densities.
With ceramic substrates, there is no organic content whatsoever. This creates a board that:
- Operates at temperatures above 800°C without degradation
- Offers higher thermal conductivity than FR-4 (0.25 W/m·K), up to 230 W/m·K (aluminium nitride), compared to alumina’s 24 W/m·K
- Stable dielectric properties over the gigahertz range
- Immune to chemical corrosion, moisture absorption and outgassing
- Offers a coefficient of thermal expansion that is very similar to that of semiconductor die
Ceramic Substrate Materials
Alumina (Al₂O₃) — 96% and 99.6% Purity
Alumina is still the most popular ceramic PCB substrate in the world. It offers a good thermal conductivity (24-30 W/m·K), reliable performance at a competitive price, and outstanding electrical insulation properties. The 96% pure variety is suitable for general use, and the 99.6% pure variety is used when a very fine surface finish and dimensional tolerances are needed.
The practical choice of alumina is for:
- LED chip-on-board modules
- Thick-film hybrid circuits
- Sensor substrates
- Power resistor carriers
Aluminium Nitride (AlN)
However, when the thermal performance of alumina is not sufficient, aluminium nitride comes to the rescue with a thermal conductivity of 150-230 W/m·K, close to that of pure aluminium metal but with full electrical insulation.
AlN ceramic PCBs are recommended for use in:
- Submounts for high-power laser diodes
- Direct-bond copper substrates (IGBT & MOSFET)
- Radio frequency power amplifier pallets
- Satellite and space-grade electronics
The CTE of AlN (4.5 ppm/°C) is very close to silicon (2.6 ppm/°C), which minimizes the thermal stress on wire bonds and die attach interfaces during temperature cycling.
Silicon Nitride (Si₃N₄)
The most rugged ceramic material on the market. The properties of silicon nitride are very good, including high thermal conductivity (70-90 W/m·K), high mechanical strength and fracture toughness (about three times that of alumina). It is recommended for automotive power modules where mechanical shock and vibration resistance as well as thermal performance are important.
Ceramic PCB Fabrication Technologies
Direct Bond Copper (DBC)
In a high temperature process, the thick copper foil (usually 0.3 mm) is directly bonded to the ceramic substrate by a copper-oxide eutectic layer. DBC boards are capable of carrying high current loads and offer excellent heat spreading. It is used in a wide range of power module packaging applications.
Direct Plated Copper (DPC)
The copper circuitry is formed on the surface of the ceramic by thin-film sputtering and electroplating. Whereas DBC can only reach line widths and spaces of 100 µm or more, DPC can reach line widths and spaces of 50 µm or less, making it suitable for RF circuits, precision sensor substrates, and LED packages for tight dimensional control.
Thick Film
Conductors (silver, gold or palladium-silver) are screen printed at high temperature onto alumina substrates. Thick film is still the leading technology for hybrid microelectronics, automotive sensors, and military electronics with high reliability requirements.
HTCC and LTCC
Multilayer ceramic circuits with buried passive components, internal cavities and hermetic packaging are indispensable for more sophisticated RF modules and microelectromechanical systems, which are possible by using the high-temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC) and low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) processes.
Aluminium PCB Applications
Ceramic PCB Manufacturing and Assembly Support
For projects that move beyond the bare substrate, PCB Company UK can coordinate the ceramic PCB requirement with component assembly and testing needs. Share the manufacturing data, material preference, copper specification, mechanical drawing, assembly files and thermal or electrical requirements so the bare-board and assembly stages can be reviewed together.
Benefits of Ceramic PCBs
Ceramic PCBs have several advantages over organic boards.
Thermal conductivity – Up to 920 times higher than FR-4 (AlN vs FR-4), so can be used for direct die attachment with no need for any intermediate thermal interface material.
Where organic boards char or delaminate, ceramic substrates operate reliably, such as in downhole drilling operations, automotive sensors used in engines and other industrial furnace controls.
Ceramic is non-porous, which is called hermetic capability. Sensitive die is protected from moisture, contaminants and corrosive atmosphere by sealed ceramic packages.
Low and temperature- and frequency-independent dielectric constant properties make ceramic ideal for precision oscillator packages, antenna substrates and microwave filters.
Unlike polyimide and epoxy, ceramic substrates do not outgas — a requirement for space and vacuum applications.
CTE matching – Ceramic substrates match semiconductor die CTEs even more closely than organic boards, resulting in higher reliability of wire bonds and solder joints over thousands of thermal cycles.
The industries we serve with Ceramic PCBs are:
Ceramic PCBs serve a wide range of industries, including power electronics, RF and microwave, medical devices, automotive, and scientific instrumentation.
- Power electronics – IGBT module packaging, SiC and GaN device packaging, EV inverter packaging
- RF and microwave – Filters, combiners, antenna feed networks, radar T/R modules
- Medical Devices – Implantable electronics, ultrasound transducer arrays, surgical laser drivers
- Medicine and health – Power supplies for medical devices, power supplies for health care
- Automotive – Exhaust gas sensors, battery monitoring, LiDAR driver circuits
- Scientific instruments – Particle detection, cryogenic electronics, vacuum-compatible assemblies
Our Ceramic PCB Specifications include the following:
|
Parameter |
Capability |
|
Substrate materials |
Al₂O₃ (96%, 99.6%), AlN, Si₃N₄ |
|
Substrate thickness |
0.25 mm – 2.0 mm |
|
Surface treatment |
anodising |
|
Minimum trace/space |
50 µm (DPC), 150 µm (DBC) |
|
Copper thickness |
0.035 mm – 0.3 mm |
|
Max substrate size |
190 mm × 140 mm |
|
ENIG, electrolytic gold and immersion silver |
|
|
Via filling materials |
Tungsten, silver, and copper |
Design Support and Prototyping
The design of ceramic PCB is quite different from an organic board. We have an applications engineering team that offers:
- Use of materials guidance that considers thermal, electrical and mechanical properties
- DFM review for your selected fabrication method (DBC, DPC, thick film or LTCC)
- Prototype parts up to 10-15 working days, typical lead times.
- Production scaling fully and quality and traceability maintained.
Why choose PCB Company UK for Ceramic Boards?
We have specialist ceramic fabrication partners that work to automotive (IATF 16949) and aerospace (AS9100) quality standards. All ceramic PCBs we ship are 100% electrically tested, dimensionally checked and surface quality inspected.
Our technical team knows the details of ceramic substrate design, via fill metallurgy, thermal cycling reliability, and more — things that general purpose PCB brokers can’t advise you on.
Contact our ceramic PCB specialists today to discuss your project needs, for substrate samples or detailed quotation.
Contact Us!
If you have a project that requires an aluminium PCB give us a shout and we’ll be happy to offer advice and recommendations based on your specific needs. We manufacture aluminium PCBs in the UK and offer fast turnaround times and great prices.