According to the present invention, there is provided a copper/ceramic bonded body including: a copper member made of copper or a copper alloy; and a ceramic member made of silicon-containing ceramics, the copper member and the ceramic member being bonded to each other, in which a maximum indentation hardness in a region is set to be in a range of 70 mgf/μm.sup.2 or more and 150 mgf/μm.sup.2 or less, the region being from 10 μm to 50 μm with reference to a bonded interface between the copper member and the ceramic member toward the copper member side.

An embodiment of a PCD insert comprises an embodiment of a PCD element joined to a cemented carbide substrate at an interface. The PCD element has internal diamond surfaces defining interstices between them. The PCD element comprises a masked or passivated region and an unmasked or unpassivated region, the unmasked or unpassivated region defining a boundary with the substrate, the boundary being the interface. At least some of the internal diamond surfaces of the masked or passivated region contact a mask or passivation medium, and some or all of the interstices of the masked or passivated region and of the unmasked or unpassivated region are at least partially filled with an infiltrant material.

Disclosed is a joined ceramic body comprising a first ceramic portion comprising a first ceramic, a second ceramic portion comprising a second ceramic, and a joining layer formed between the first ceramic portion and the second ceramic portion. The joining layer has a bond thickness of from 0.5 to 20 um and comprises silicon dioxide having a total impurity content of 20 ppm and less. A method of making the joined ceramic body and a joining material are also disclosed.

In a ceramic/copper/graphene assembly, a ceramic member, a copper member formed of copper or a copper alloy, and a graphene-containing carbonaceous member containing a graphene aggregate are joined. At a joining interface between the copper member and the graphene-containing carbonaceous member, an active metal carbide layer containing a carbide of one or more kinds of active metals selected from Ti, Zr, Nb, and Hf is formed on a side of the graphene-containing carbonaceous member, and a Mg solid solution layer having Mg dissolved in a matrix phase of Cu is formed between the active metal carbide layer and the copper member.

This copper/ceramic bonded body includes: a copper member made of copper or a copper alloy; and a ceramic member made of aluminum-containing ceramics, the copper member and the ceramic member are bonded to each other, in which, at a bonded interface between the copper member and the ceramic member, an active metal compound layer containing an active metal compound that is a compound of one or more active metals selected from Ti, Zr, Nb, and Hf is formed on a ceramic member side, and in the active metal compound layer Al and Cu are present at a grain boundary of the active metal compound.

A copper-ceramic composite: includes a ceramic substrate containing alumina and a copper or copper alloy coating on the ceramic substrate. The alumina has a mean grain shape factor R.sub.a(Al.sub.2O.sub.3), defined as the arithmetic mean of the shape factors R of the alumina grains, of at least 0.4.

A method for brazing a first ceramic component and a second metal alloy component, to make a structural or external timepiece element, a zirconia-based ceramic is chosen for the first component and a titanium alloy for the second component, a first recess is made inside the first component, set back from a first surface in a junction area with a second surface of the second component, braze material is deposited on this first surface and inside each recess, the second surface is positioned in alignment with the first surface to form an assembly, this assembly is heated in a controlled atmosphere to above the melting temperature of the braze material, in order to form the braze in the junction area.

A copper/ceramic bonded body includes: a copper member (12) made of copper or a copper alloy; and a ceramic member (11) made of nitrogen-containing ceramics, the copper member (12) and the ceramic member (11) being bonded to each other, in which a Mg solid solution layer in which Mg is solid-soluted in a Cu matrix is formed at a bonding interface between the copper member (12) and the ceramic member (11), an active metal nitride layer (41) containing a nitride of one or more active metals selected from Ti, Zr, Nb, and Hf is formed on a ceramic member (11) side, and a thickness of the active metal nitride layer (41) is set to be in a range of 0.05 μm or more and 1.2 μm or less.

A copper-ceramic bonded body includes a copper member made of copper or a copper alloy, and a ceramic member made of silicon nitride, the copper member and the ceramic member being bonded to each other, in which a maximum length of a Mg—N compound phase which is present at a bonded interface between the copper member and the ceramic member is less than 100 nm, and in a unit length along the bonded interface, the number density of the Mg—N compound phase in a range of a length of 10 nm or more and less than 100 nm is less than 8 pieces/μm.

In an insulating circuit substrate, aluminum sheets formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy are laminated and bonded to a surface of a ceramic substrate and, in the aluminum sheets, Cu is solid-solubilized at a bonding interface with the ceramic substrate and a ratio B/A between a Cu concentration A mass % at the bonding interface and a Cu concentration B mass % at a position of 100 μm in a thickness direction from the bonding interface to the aluminum sheets side is 0.30 or more and 0.85 or less.