MultiPlaQ

Development and characterization of a multilayer quartz circuit board for high-frequency applications (MultiPlaQ)

Funded by
ZIM Central Innovation Program for SMEs of the BMWE
Project sponsor
ZIM Central Innovation Program for SMEs of the BMWE
Funding amount
208.548 €
Duration
01.01.2024 - 31.12.2026
Cooperation partners
PLANOPTIK AG
TU Clausthal - AG Niels Neumann
Contact person(s)
Dr. Volker Neumann, Dr. Tobias Otto

The use of ever higher frequencies requires electronic components made of low-loss materials such as quartz glass. Through-plating is used to construct multilayer quartz glass high-frequency circuit boards. Structure sizes of <150 µm are to be achieved; the stability of the structures should remain unaffected by soldering temperatures of up to 230 °C. For through-plating, the quartz glass wafers from project partner PlanOptik AG are perforated using laser and etching processes and then wet-chemically copper-plated. At the professorship, the copper surface is microstructured using photolithography and etching processes and coated with nickel and gold in order to subsequently join two or more quartz glass wafer layers at the IAVT of the TUD. The layout of the quartz glass boards is optimized by the Institute for Electrical Information Technology in Clausthal through modeling and measurement of their high-frequency properties.