thickfilm

Thick-film technology is a method for creating electronic circuits by screen-printing conductive, resistive, and dielectric pastes onto a ceramic or other substrate, followed by a high-temperature firing step that fuses the pastes into solid layers. The resulting layers are thicker than thin-film coatings, typically tens of micrometers, and form complex networks of interconnections, resistors, and capacitors on a single substrate.

Common substrates include alumina and other ceramics; sometimes glass-ceramics or certain polymers are used. Conductive pastes use silver, silver-palladium, or copper; resistive pastes employ ruthenium oxide, tantalum nitride, or other metal oxides; dielectric pastes provide insulation and capacitance. The printing is followed by drying and a temperature-controlled firing step (approximately 800–1000 C, atmosphere depending on materials).

Applications include thick-film resistors and capacitors, interconnect networks, and hybrid integrated circuits, especially in automotive, industrial controls, power modules, and consumer electronics. Advantages include suitability for medium-volume production, good high-temperature stability, and the ability to integrate multiple components on a single ceramic body. Limitations include lower precision and higher surface roughness compared with semiconductor fabrication, greater brittleness of ceramic substrates, and material/processing costs for some pastes.

As electronics manufacturing has evolved, thick-film technology has evolved to include multi-layer thick-film modules and low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) as a related platform, enabling more compact and integrated assemblies while maintaining compatibility with traditional thick-film pastes and firing cycles.