Fabrication and Assembly of High Operating Temperature Circuits

There is a trend towards an architecture that uses digital data buses to transfer information between control system components. The hurdle to distributed control architecture is that it moves components from benign into harsh environments. A major challenge is the need for operation at temperatures well above 125 degrees C. A consortium of US firms has formed to commercialize Silicon on Insulator (SOI) electronics. This technology promises devices capable of withstanding elevated temperatures. The associated high temperature packaging for this technology needs to be developed to implement the emerging distibuted controls. New circuit board materials and designs able to withstand high tempratures need to be developed. A basic materials set to address high temperature opertion was demonstrated by Toranaga as part of another SBIR Phase I program. What is needed is a systematic aproach and fabrication and assembly process methods. The objective of this Phase I effort will be to refine fabrication processes and to investigate assembly methods for low cost high temperature multilayer circuit fabrication for use in distributed controls. Two applications will be developed and demonstrated: a smart engine vane actuator operating at 200 degrees C and an automotic Anti-locking Brake System controller operating at 150 to 175 degrees C. Anticipated Military Benefits/Potential Commercial Applications of the Research or Development: The weight, reliability and cost savings that are achieved by elimination of cooling systems could be enormous. It will result in the wide scale use of high temperature electronics in numerous military and commercial distributed control applications. This technology promises to inexpensively and rapidly yield a system for the fabrication of high temperature circuits. These new materials and system will increase reliability, reduce processing steps and complexity, and reduce cost over conventional high temperature packages such as cermic MCMs or polymide/glass printed circuit boards.