A method of forming one or more high temperature co-fired ceramic articles, comprising the steps of:— a) forming a plurality of green compacts, by a process comprising dry pressing a powder comprising ceramic and organic binder to form a green compact; b) disposing a conductor or conductor precursor to at least one surface of at least one of the plurality of green compacts to form at least one patterned green compact; c) assembling the at least one patterned green compact with one or more of the plurality of green compacts or patterned green compacts or both to form a laminated assembly; d) isostatically pressing the laminated assembly to form a pressed laminated assembly; e) firing the pressed laminated assembly at a temperature sufficient to sinter the ceramic layers together.

To provide a method of manufacturing power module substrate board at high productivity and a ceramic-copper bonded body in which warps are reduced. In a bonded body-forming step, a circuit layer-forming copper layer consisting of a plurality of first copper layers is formed by arranging and bonding a plurality of first copper boards on a first surface of a ceramic board, and a metal layer-forming copper layer consisting of a second copper layer with a smaller arrangement number than that of the first copper layers is formed by bonding a second copper board having a larger planar area than that of the first copper board and a smaller thickness than that of the first copper board so as to cover at least two of adjacent substrate board-forming areas on a second surface of the ceramic board among the substrate board-forming areas partitioned by the dividing groove.

The present invention provides a power module substrate including an insulating substrate, a circuit layer which is formed on one surface of the insulating substrate, and a metal layer which is formed on the other surface of the insulating substrate, in which the circuit layer has a first aluminum layer made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy which is bonded to the insulating substrate and a first copper layer made of copper or a copper alloy which is bonded to the first aluminum layer by solid-phase diffusion, the metal layer has a second aluminum layer made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and a relationship between a thickness t.sub.1 of the circuit layer and a thickness t.sub.2 of the second aluminum layer of the metal layer satisfy t.sub.1<t.sub.2.

Preventing a deformation when a metal layer made of copper or copper alloy is brazed on an aluminum-made cooler, a power-module substrate with cooler having low thermal resistance and high bonding reliability is provided: a circuit layer made of copper or copper alloy is bonded on one surface of a ceramic board and a metal layer made of copper or copper alloy is bonded on the other surface of the ceramic board; a second metal layer made of aluminum or aluminum alloy is bonded to the metal layer by solid-phase diffusion; and a cooler made of aluminum alloy is brazed on the second metal layer with Al-based Mg-included brazing material.

A method of joining a metal-ceramic substrate having metallization on at least one side to a metal body by using metal alloy is disclosed. The metal body has a thickness of less than 1.0 mm and the metal alloy contains aluminum and has a liquidus temperature of greater than 450° C. The resulting metal-ceramic module provides a strong bond between the metal body and the ceramic substrate. The resulting module is useful as a circuit carrier in electronic appliances, with the metal body preferably functioning as a cooling body.

To provide a brazing material for maintaining bonding strength between ceramic substrate and metal plate at a conventionally attainable level, while addition amount of In is reduced, and a brazing material paste using the same. A mixture powder provided by mixing alloy powder composed of Ag, In, and Cu, Ag powder, and active metal hydride powder, the mixture powder containing active metal hydride powder with a 10-to-25-μm equivalent circle average particle diameter by 0.5 to 5.0 mass %, the equivalent circle average particle diameters for the alloy powder, Ag powder, and active metal hydride powder having a relationship: alloy powder≧active metal hydride powder>Ag powder, and the powder mixture having a particle size distribution of d10 of 3 to 10 μm, d50 of 10 to 35 μm, and d90 of 30 to 50 μm, and in the frequency distribution, a peak of the distribution existing between d50 and d90.

This copper/ceramic bonded body includes a copper member made of copper or a copper alloy, and a ceramic member made of aluminum nitride, in which the copper member and the ceramic member are bonded to each other, and a Mg—O layer is formed at a bonding interface between the copper member and the ceramic member.

There is provided an aluminum/ceramic bonding substrate having a ceramic substrate, an aluminum plate of an aluminum alloy which is bonded directly to one side of the ceramic substrate, an aluminum base plate of the aluminum alloy which is bonded directly to the other side of the ceramic substrate, and a plate-shaped reinforcing member which has a higher strength than that of the aluminum base plate and which is arranged in the aluminum base plate to be bonded directly to the aluminum base plate, wherein the aluminum alloy contains 0.01 to 0.2% by weight of magnesium, 0.01 to 0.1% by weight of silicon, and the balance being aluminum and unavoidable impurities.

A metal-ceramic substrate having at least one ceramic layer (2), which is provided on a first surface side (2a) with at least one first metallization (3) and on a second surface side (2b), opposite from the first surface side (2a), with a second metallization (4), wherein the first metallization (3) is formed by a film or layer of copper or a copper alloy and is connected to the first surface side (2a) of the ceramic layer (2) with the aid of a “direct copper bonding” process. The second metallization (4) is formed by a layer of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

Provided are: an apparatus and a method for producing a (metal plate)-(ceramic board) laminated assembly, a bonding material and a metal plate during the bonding of the metal plate to the ceramic board through the bonding-material layer and an apparatus and a method for producing a power-module substrate. An apparatus for producing a (metal plate)-(ceramic board) laminated assembly by laminating a metal plate having a temporary bonding material formed thereon on a ceramic board having a bonding-material layer formed thereon, the apparatus being equipped with: a conveying device which conveys the metal plate onto the ceramic board to laminate the ceramic board and the metal plate on each other; and a heating device which is arranged in the middle of a passage of the conveyance of the metal plate by the conveying device and melts the temporary-bonding material on the metal plate.