An aluminum alloy member is made of an aluminum alloy having a Mg concentration set in a range of 0.4 mass % or more and 7.0 mass % or less and a Si concentration set to less than 1 mass %, the aluminum alloy member and a copper member are bonded to each other through solid-phase diffusion, and a compound layer made up of a first intermetallic compound layer that is disposed on the aluminum alloy member side and made of a θ phase of an intermetallic compound of Cu and Al, a second intermetallic compound layer that is disposed on the copper member side and made of a γ.sub.2 phase of an intermetallic compound of Cu and Al, and a Cu—Al—Mg layer provided between the first intermetallic compound layer and the second intermetallic compound layer is provided in a bonding interface between the aluminum alloy member and the copper member.

According to the present invention, a dense composite material includes titanium silicide in an amount of 43 to 63 mass %; silicon carbide in an amount less than the mass percentage of the titanium silicide; and titanium carbide in an amount less than the mass percentage of the titanium silicide. In the dense composite material, a maximum value of interparticle distances of the silicon carbide is 40 μm or less, a standard deviation of the interparticle distances is 10 or less, and an open porosity of the dense composite material is 1% or less.

A metal-on-ceramic substrate comprises a ceramic layer, a first metal layer, and a bonding layer joining the ceramic layer to the first metal layer. The bonding layer includes thermoplastic polyimide adhesive that contains thermally conductive particles. This permits the substrate to withstand most common die attach operations, reduces residual stress in the substrate, and simplifies manufacturing processes.

A method is provided for producing an insulating circuit substrate with a heat sink including an insulating circuit substrate and a heat sink, the insulating circuit substrate including a circuit layer and a metal layer that are formed on an insulating layer, and the heat sink being bonded to the metal layer side. The method includes: an aluminum bonding layer forming step of forming an aluminum bonding layer formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy having a solidus temperature of 650° C. or lower on the metal layer; and a heat sink bonding step of laminating a copper bonding material formed of copper or a copper alloy between the aluminum bonding layer and the heat sink and bonding the aluminum bonding layer, the copper bonding material, and the heat sink to each other by solid phase diffusion bonding.

A method of manufacturing a ceramics-metal bonded body according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a ceramics-metal bonded body in which a metal layer is bonded to at least one surface of a ceramics substrate, and comprises: a groove-forming step of forming a groove extending across a bonding region of a ceramics substrate to which a metal layer is bonded; and a bonding step of, after the groove-forming step, forming a metal layer by stacking, in the bonding region of the ceramics substrate, a metal plate of an aluminum or aluminum alloy with a thickness of less than or equal to 0.4 mm, via an Al—Si based brazing material foil, and bonding the metal plate to the bonding region by heating while applying load in a stacking direction.

A bonded body is formed to configured to join a ceramic member formed of a Si-based ceramic and a copper member formed of copper or a copper alloy, in which, in a joint layer formed between the ceramic member and the copper member, a crystalline active metal compound layer formed of a compound including an active metal is formed on the ceramic member side.

An insulated circuit board having a ceramic substrate, a circuit layer on which a circuit pattern is formed and that is bonded to one surface of the ceramic substrate, and a metal layer bonded to the other surface of the ceramic substrate. The circuit layer has a first circuit layer that is bonded to the ceramic substrate and is made of aluminum and a second circuit layer that is bonded to the upper surface of the first circuit layer and is made of copper, the metal layer has a first metal layer that is bonded to the ceramic substrate and is made of aluminum and a second metal layer that is bonded to the upper surface of the first metal layer and is made of copper, and the thicknesses of the first circuit layer and the first metal layer are each 0.2 mm or more and 0.9 mm or less.

A power module substrate according to the present invention is a power module substrate in which a copper sheet made of copper or a copper alloy is laminated and bonded onto a surface of a ceramic substrate (11), an oxide layer (31) is formed on the surface of the ceramic substrate (11) between the copper sheet and the ceramic substrate (11), and the thickness of a AgCu eutectic structure layer (32) is set to 15 m or less.

A bonded body of the present invention includes a ceramic member formed of ceramics and a Cu member formed of Cu or a Cu alloy. In a bonding layer formed between the ceramic member and the Cu member, an area ratio of a Cu.sub.3P phase in a region extending by up to 50 m toward the Cu member side from a bonding surface of the ceramic member is equal to or lower than 15%.

An assembly includes a first member, a second member adjacent to the first member, and an aluminum material. At least one of the first member and the second member defines at least one trench. The aluminum material is disposed within the trench and bonds the first member to the second member along adjacent faces. A spacing between the first member and the second member along the adjacent faces is less than 5 m and a surface roughness of the adjacent faces of the first and second ceramic members is between 5 mm and 100 nanometers.