Method of making ceramic member and marked ceramic member

• US 6,413,619 B1
• Filed: 07/28/2000
• Issued: 07/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Hamada, Noriaki, Furukubo, Youji
• Primary Examiner(s): Jones, Deborah
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLACKWELL, GWENDOLYN
• Application Number:
  US09/627,847
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 428/209, 428/195
• US Class Current: 428/209
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 10/0009 containing silica as main constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 4/02 for coloured glass
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 33/14 Colouring matters
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54473 for use after dicing
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/544 Marks applied to semiconductor devices or parts, e.g. registration marks, alignment structures, wafer maps test patterns for characterising or monitoring manufacturing processes H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0269 for visual or optical inspection
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0306 Inorganic insulating substrates, e.g. ceramic, glass
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2203/1105 Heating or thermal processing not related to soldering, firing, curing or laminating, e.g. for shaping the substrate or during finish plating
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2203/161 Using chemical substances, e.g. colored or fluorescent, for facilitating optical or visual inspection
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24917 including metal layer

Abstract

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of marking a ceramic member, which comprises firing, in an atmosphere, a ceramic green body containing at least 0.05% by weight of a color changing agent capable of developing different color tones by heating in different atmospheres, and heating a specific portion of the resulting sintered body in the other atmosphere to form a marking portion whose color tone is different from that of the other portion, and a marked ceramic member, thereby making it possible to easily form a mark having excellent visibility in a short time without increasing the number of processes.

Claims

1. A ceramic member having a marking portion, whose color tone is different from that of a portion other than the marking portion, on the surface, comprising ceramics containing a color changing agent, wherein the valence of the color changing agent in the marking portion is different from the valence of the color changing agent in the portion other than the marking portion and wherein the color changing agent is an oxide of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, V, Se and Cu, a composite oxide of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, V, Se and Cu, and mixtures thereof.

2. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent has a property capable of developing different colors by heating in different atmosphere.

3. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the valence of the color changing agent in the marking portion is larger than that of the color changing agent in the portion other than the marking portion.

4. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics are glass ceramics.

5. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein a circuit made of copper or silver is formed on the surface of or in the ceramic member.

6. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is contained in the ceramic in an amount of at least about 0.05% by weight.

7. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is contained in the ceramic in an amount no greater than about 5% by weight.

8. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is contained in the ceramic in an amount between about 0.05% and 5% by weight.

9. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is MnO₂.

10. The ceramic member according to claim 2, wherein the color changing agent is MnO₂.

11. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is Fe₂O₃.

12. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is Se.

13. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the color changing agent is Cu.

14. The ceramic member according to claim 8, wherein the color changing agent is MnO₂.

15. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics is selected from the group consisting of alumina, mullite and aluminum nitride.

16. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics is selected from the group consisting of SiO₂—

Al₂O₃—

CaO—

, SiO₂—

Al₂O₃—

B₂O₃— and

SiO₂—

BaO—

B₂O₃—

Al₂O₃—

CaO-based glasses.

17. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics also contains a coloring agent.

18. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics also contains a coloring agent selected from the group consisting of Cr₂O₃, Co₂O₃ and Er₂O₃.

19. The ceramic member according to claim 1, wherein the ceramics also contains a coloring agent present in an amount of about 5% by weight or less.