Heat Conductive Colored Aluminum Nitride Sintered Body and Method of Preparing the Same

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ceramic sintered body which is employed for an electronic material such as an IC substrate material, a package material or the like, and more particularly, it relates to a colored aluminum nitride sintered body having high heat conductivity and a method of preparing the same.

2. Description of the Background Art

In recent years, the technique relating to a large-scale integrated circuit device (LSI) has made a marked advance with remarkable improvement in degree of integration. Following such improvement in degree of integration and increase in size of an IC chip, the heating value of a package carrying such an IC chip has also been improved. Accordingly, a heat radiation property of a substrate material employed for a package for a semiconductor device etc. has been regarded as important. The heat conductivity of an alumina sintered body, which has generally been widely applied to an IC substrate, is rather insufficient as to the heat radiation property. Thus, it is difficult for the alumina sintered body to cope with the increased heating value of the IC chip. To this end, study has been made in order to substitute beryllia, having high heat conductivity, for such an alumina sintered body. However, beryllia is hard to handle because of its toxicity.

On the other hand, a sintered body of aluminum nitride (AlN), which originally has high heat conductivity and high insulability with no toxicity, is watched with interest as a material for a circuit substrate or a package for a semiconductor device.

In general, an impurity content of such an AlN sintered body is so reduced as to obtain an AlN sintered body which is an excellent in heat conductivity and electrical insulability. Such a sintered body is also excellent in translucence, and hence the same is preferably applied to an optical filter etc. in practice. However, it is problematic to apply the AlN sintered body to a package etc. since transmission of ultraviolet rays leads to a malfunction of the IC.

To this end, various researches have been made as to colored AlN sintered bodies, and several successful examples have been reported.

For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 63-233079 discloses a black aluminum nitride sintered body and a method of preparing the same. According to this literature, a black AlN sintered body can be obtained by adding a specific amount of calcium tungstate powder and/or calcium molybdate powder to AlN powder, mixing and molding the same, and thereafter firing the mixture in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent laying-Open No. 63-310772 describes that a black AlN sintered body can be obtained by sintering AlN powder with metal molybdenum or a molybdenum compound, serving as an additive. However, the aluminum nitride sintered bodies disclosed in the aforementioned two gazettes have a low heat conductivity values of about 100 W/m.multidot.K.

AlN is apt to incorporates an impurity such as oxygen. Thus, AlN powder of high purity is generally employed in order to improve heat conductivity. If the aforementioned substance is added for coloring, therefore, heat conductivity may be reduced. Thus, it has been impossible to obtain a colored AlN sintered body having high heat conductivity.

However, a substrate material for carrying an IC chip having a high output must have a high heat conductivity, so that its heat radiation property is improved in order to prevent the IC from a malfunction caused by temperature rise of the IC chip. At the same time, the substrate must be colored in order to prevent the IC from a malfunction caused by transmission of ultraviolet rays. According to the conventional technique, however, it has been difficult to provide a ceramic substrate, which can simultaneously satisfy the two requirements for the substrate material for an IC chip, as hereinabove described.

An object of the present invention is to provide a colored aluminum nitride sintered body having excellent heat conductivity, which is useful as an electronic material such as an IC package material or a substrate material, and a method of preparing the same.

In consideration of the aforementioned circumstances, the inventors have made deep study as to an AlN sintered body having reciprocal characteristics of high heat conductivity and a coloring property, and found the following two points:

(a) Presence of carbon in the sintered body is effective for coloring of the sintered body.

(b) When the sintered body contains a rare earth aluminum oxide, which is a composite oxide of a rare earth oxide and an aluminum oxide, and a compound of an element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table in prescribed amounts with a specific amount of carbon, the sintered body is colored with high heat conductivity of at least 100 W/m.multidot.K and not more than 270 W/m.multidot.K at the ordinary temperature.

In a specific composition, the inventive aluminum nitride sintered body contains 100 parts by weight of AlN, at least 0.005 parts by weight and not more than 0.5 parts by weight of carbon, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of a rare earth aluminum oxide in terms of the simple substance of a rare earth element, and at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of at least one element selected from a group of compounds containing elements belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table in terms of the simple substance of the element. The elements belonging to the group IVB of the periodic table are Ti, Zr and Hf, and those belonging to the group VB are V, Nb and Ta, while those belonging to the group VIB are Cr, Mo and W.

The rare earth elements are Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb and Lu. The rare earth aluminum oxide is formed by chemical reaction between an additional rare earth element oxide and aluminum oxide which is present in AlN as an impurity, to be contained in the sintered body. Although the effect of its existence is not varied with the type of the rare earth element, it is preferable to add any one of Sc, Y, La and Ce in order to obtain a sintered body which is excellent in reliability in relation to chemical resistance etc.

The carbon content in the aluminum nitride sintered body is restricted in a range of at least 0.005 parts by weight and not more than 0.5 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of aluminum nitride. If the carbon content is less than the lower limit of this range, it is impossible to obtain a sintered body having high heat conductivity. If the carbon content exceeds the upper limit of the aforementioned range, on the other hand, the carbon deoxidizes a liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide in firing and blocks mass transfer through such a liquid phase. Thus, it is impossible to obtain a dense sintered body.

In a method of preparing a heat conductive colored aluminum nitride sintered body according to one aspect of the present invention, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 5 parts by weight of carbon, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of a rare earth element oxide in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element, and at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of at least one element selected from a group of oxides, carbides and nitrides of elements belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table in terms of the simple substance of the element are added to 100 parts by weight of aluminum nitride, to obtain a mixture. This mixture is shaped into a prescribed configuration, to obtain a compact. This compact is fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere under a temperature of at least 1500.degree. C. and not more than 2100.degree. C.

The additional amount of carbon is synthetically determined in consideration of the type of the additional carbon, the oxygen content in the AlN raw material powder, firing conditions, and the like. At least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 5 parts by weight of carbon is added to 100 parts by weight of aluminum nitride, for reasons similar to the above. The lower limit of the additional amount of carbon is set at 0.01 parts by weight, so that the finally obtained aluminum nitride sintered body contains at least 0.005 parts by weight of carbon.

The carbon material herein employed may be prepared from carbon black, coke, graphite powder, diamond powder or the like. It is preferable to restrict the particle diameter, the specific surface area, the pH value, volatile components etc. of such carbon material to specific values, in order to attain homogeneous dispersion in an unsintered body of aluminum nitride. In particular, it is effective to use fine powder of carbon black having a BET value of at least 200 m.sup.2 /g. The term "BET value" indicates one value of a specific surface area measured by an absorption process.

The compact is fired under a temperature of at least 1500.degree. C. since the sintered body is ineconomically densified at a slow speed if the compact is fired at a temperature lower than 1500.degree. C. If the firing temperature exceeds 2100.degree. C., on the other hand, it is difficult to obtain a dense sintered body since aluminum nitride is significantly decomposed and evaporated. The rare earth 10 aluminum oxide is formed by reaction between the rare earth element oxide and the aluminum oxide. Grain growth of AlN progresses by mass transfer through a liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide. Therefore, if the temperature for forming such a liquid phase, i.e., the melting point of the rare earth aluminum oxide is in excess of 2100.degree. C., it is difficult to obtain a dense sintered body due to decomposition and evaporation of AlN.

Heat conductivity of the colored aluminum nitride sintered body is improved by such addition of carbon, conceivably in the following mechanism: When a compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table is added to the unsintered body and fired in accordance with the conventional method, the liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide is inferior in wettability with respect to aluminum nitride particles. The compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table, which is inferior in wettability with respect to the AlN particles, is present in a grain boundary portion of the sintered body, to contribute to coloring of the sintered body. At the same time, part of the compound solidly dissolves in the AlN particles with oxygen. When the element compound solidly dissolves in the AlN particles with oxygen and the AlN particles are inferior in wettability with respect to the liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide, it is difficult to trap oxygen from the AlN particles to the liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide. It is known that oxygen untrapped by the liquid phase solidly dissolves in particles of the AlN sintered body, to form an oxynitride of Al(Al.sub.(8/3+X/3) O.sub.4-x N.sub.x), spinel (Al.sub.9 O.sub.3 N.sub.7), .alpha.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 etc., and significantly reduces heat conductivity of the sintered body, regardless of its denseness.

On the other hand, the inventors have clarified that carbon added to the raw material deoxidizes oxygen, which solidly dissolves in the AlN particles simultaneously with part of the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table solidly dissolving in the AlN particles, and eliminates the same from the system. It is amazing that wettability of the liquid phase is not damaged with respect to the AlN particles, in which the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table solidly dissolves, but oxygen is sufficiently trapped from the AlN particles. Thus, it is possible to obtain a sintered body having high heat conductivity. At the same time, the carbon contained in the sintered body scatters visible rays which are transmitted through the sintered body, to effectively color the sintered body. It is conceivable that a colored sintered body having high heat conductivity can be obtained since the effect of such coloring is not lost by addition of the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table.

As to the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table, a compound forming the aforementioned compound upon firing, such as an inorganic compound such as a nitrate or an oxalate of an element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table, or an organometallic compound such as an alkoxide may be employed in place of an oxide, a carbide or a nitride, to attain a similar effect. The effect of coloring is improved as the particle diameter of such a compound is reduced, preferably to about 0.05 to 1 .mu.m, in particular. The upper limit of the particle diameter of the compound is about 20 times that of the AlN powder as used.

In a method of preparing a heat conductive colored aluminum nitride sintered body according to another aspect of the present invention, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 5 parts by weight of a compound liberating carbon in terms of the amount of free carbon, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of a rare earth element oxide in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element, and at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more 15 parts by weight of at least one element selected from a group of oxides, carbides and nitrides of elements belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table in terms of the simple substance of the element are added to 100 parts by weight of aluminum nitride, to obtain a mixture. This mixture is shaped into a prescribed configuration, to obtain a compact. This compact is heated in a nonoxidizing atmosphere under a temperature of at least 150.degree. C. and not more than 1500.degree. C., to liberate carbon. Thereafter the compact is fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere under a temperature of at least 1500.degree. C. and not more than 2100.degree. C.

The compound liberating carbon may be prepared from an organic compound such as a fatty acid compound or an aromatic compound, or a high molecular compound such as styrene resin, acrylic resin, phenol resin or urethane resin. According to the present invention, it is preferable to use one of polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl butyral, polyethylene terephthalate, glucose, fructose and sucrose, or a mixture thereof.

The feature of the method according to the second aspect of the present invention resides in that the compound liberating carbon is contained in the unsintered body, while carbon is contained in the unsintered body in the aforementioned method according to the first aspect of the present invention. According to this method, it is possible to homogeneously distribute carbon in the asformed sintered body and to reduce nonuniformity of the composition, the color tone etc. of the sintered body by appropriately selecting the compound for liberating carbon, which is homogeneously dispersed in the unsintered body.

In a method of preparing a heat conductive colored aluminum nitride sintered body according to still another aspect of the present invention, at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight of a rare earth element oxide in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element, and at least one element selected from a group of oxides, carbides and nitrides of elements belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table in terms of the simple substance of the element are added to 100 parts by weight of aluminum nitride, to obtain a mixture. This mixture is shaped into a a desired configuration, to obtain a compact. This compact is fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere containing at least 10 volume percent and not more than 100 volume percent of hydrocarbon gas under a temperature of at least 1500.degree. C. and not more than 2100.degree. C.

The hydrocarbon gas is introduced in order to eliminate oxygen from the system by chemical reaction. Therefore, any gas can be effectively employed so far as the same contains carbon. According to the present invention, however, it is preferable to use one of methane gas, ethylene gas, acetylene gas, propane gas and butane gas.

In the aforementioned method according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the mixture is shaped into a compact and carbon or a compound liberating carbon is added to the compact, thereby eliminating oxygen, following part of the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table solidly dissolving in the AlN particles, from the system by solid phase reaction with carbon. On the other hand, the feature of the method according to the third aspect of the present invention resides in that oxygen, following part of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table solidly dissolving in the AlN particles, is eliminated from the system by gas phase reaction with the hydrocarbon gas. The hydrocarbon gas, which has higher reactivity than carbon or that liberated from the compound, efficiently deoxidizes oxygen following the part of the compound of the element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table solidly dissolving in the AlN particles in a short time, to eliminate the same from the system. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a colored aluminum nitride sintered body having simultaneously high heat conductivity even if a relatively short firing pattern is employed In the method according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, unevenness may be caused in the composition, the color tone etc. of the sintered body, depending on the dispersed state of carbon or the compound liberating carbon. However, such unevenness is hardly caused in the method according to the third aspect of the present invention.

The rare earth element oxide is added in an amount of at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element so that the as-formed aluminum nitride sintered body contains a rare earth aluminum nitride in the same range in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element, for the following reason: If the amount is smaller than the lower limit of the above range, the absolute amount of the liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide, being a composite oxide, is so insufficient that no dense sintered body can be obtained. If the amount exceeds the upper limit of the above range, on the other hand, an excess liquid phase exudes on the surface of the sintered body, to instabilize the color tone of the as-formed sintered body with spotting etc.

At least one element selected from the group of oxides, carbides and nitrides of the elements belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table is added in an amount of at least 0.01 parts by weight and not more than 15 parts by weight in terms of the simple substance of the rare earth element so that the as-formed aluminum nitride sintered body contains a compound containing the element in the same range, for the following reason: If the amount is smaller than the lower limit of the aforementioned range, the as-formed sintered body is insufficiently colored. If the amount exceeds the upper limit of the aforementioned range, on the other hand, it is impossible to obtain a dense sintered body since the compound of the element dissolves in the liquid phase of the rare earth aluminum oxide, being a composite oxide, to significantly block its wettability with respect to the AlN particles.

While the effect according to the present invention can be sufficiently attained by simply adding the aforementioned components to aluminum nitride, it is also possible to employ a well-known binder such as acrylic resin such as PVA, PVB or PMMA, paraffin or the like, in order to improve compactibility of the unsintered body. Further, 50 parts by weight of hexagonal BN may be contained in 100 parts by weight of AlN at the maximum, in order to improve various characteristics such as machinability.

In the method of preparing an aluminum nitride sintered body according to the present invention, a step of molding a mixture of a prescribed composition may be carried out by any method such as a doctor blade coater, press molding, CIP (cold isostatic pressing) or the like.

The as-formed heat conductive colored aluminum nitride sintered body satisfies the reciprocal requirements for heat conductivity and coloring property. When an IC chip is carried on a substrate of the inventive aluminum nitride sintered body, it is possible to suppress temperature rise caused by heating of the IC chip and transmission of ultraviolet rays from the exterior. Consequently, it is possible to reduce malfunctions of the IC chip. The substrate may be in any one of generally known forms such as DIP (dual in-line package), CERDIP (ceramic dual in-line package), LCC (leadless chip carrier), a flat package, PGA (pin grid array), a cerquad package, a hybrid package, a mother board and the like. The characteristics of the substrate, i.e., heat conductivity and coloring property, are not deteriorated in any of these forms. The inventive aluminum nitride sintered body, which is employed as a substrate material in any one of the aforementioned forms, generally comprises a conductor layer of tungsten etc., a sealing layer of glass etc., or a thin film circuit. An effect of such a conductor layer, sealing layer or thin film circuit will not be damaged in a substrate formed by the inventive aluminum nitride sintered body.

According to the present invention, as hereinabove described, it is possible to obtain a colored aluminum nitride sintered body having excellent heat conductivity. The inventive aluminum nitride sintered body is usefully applied to an electronic material for an IC package or a substrate, with a high industrial value.

1 part by weight of carbon black having a BET value of 500 m.sup.2 /g, 1 part by weight of yttrium oxide in terms of the simple substance of yttrium, and 1 part by weight of titanium oxide in terms of the simple substance of titanium were added to 100 parts by weight of AlN powder having a mean particle diameter of 1 .mu.m. A binder, a plasticizer, a deflocculant, a solvent, a wetting agent and an antielectrostatic agent were added to the powder, and mixed in a ball mill. The plasticizer was prepared from a mixture of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) The deflocculant was prepared from menhaden fish oil. The solvent was prepared from a mixture of trichloroethylene, ethyl alcohol and methyethylketone. The wetting agent was prepared from glycerine monooleate. The as-formed slurry was defoamed, to prepare a green sheet of AlN by a doctor blade coater.

This green sheet was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1800.degree. C. for 3 hours, to obtain a black sintered body.

Heat conductivity, measured by a laser flash method, of this sintered body was 150 W/m.multidot.K at the ordinary temperature.

This sintered body contained carbon, yttrium and titanium respectively in amounts of 0.03 parts by weight, 0.93 parts by weight and 0.85 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. A sample No. 1 shown in Tables 1 and 2 was formed by this aluminum nitride sintered body.

In a similar manner to the above, elements were blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 1 to prepare compacts by a doctor blade coater, and the compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C. Table 2 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, yttrium and elements (additives), belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table, of the as-formed sintered bodies.

Elements were blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 3 to prepare compacts by a doctor blade coater in a similar manner to Example 1, and then the compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 4 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, yttrium and elements (additives), belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table, of the as-formed sintered bodies.

A prescribed amount of polyvinyl alcohol, serving as a compound liberating carbon, 1 part by weight of yttrium oxide in terms of the simple substance of yttrium, and 1 part by weight of titanium oxide in terms of the simple substance of titanium were added to 100 parts by weight of AlN powder having a mean particle diameter of 1 .mu.m. A binder, a plasticizer, a solvent and a wetting agent were mixed into this powder in a ball mill. The binder was prepared from a mixture of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polypropylene (PP). The plasticizer was prepared from a mixture of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP). The solvent was prepared from butyl alcohol. The as-formed slurry was granulated by spray drying, and press-molded under a pressure of 1 ton/cm .sup.2.

The as-formed compact was heat treated in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1000.degree. C. for 10 hours, to liberate carbon. The amount of free carbon was 0.88 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. Thereafter the compact was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 2000.degree. C. for 5 hours, to obtain a black sintered body.

The as-formed sintered body was subjected to measurement of heat conductivity at the ordinary temperature and contents of carbon, yttrium and titanium. As the result, the sintered body exhibited heat conductivity of 170 W/m.multidot.K and contents of carbon, yttrium and titanium of 0.01 parts by weight, 0.85 parts by weight and 0.88 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. A sample No. 31 shown in Tables 5, 6 and 7 was formed by this aluminum nitride sintered body.

In a similar manner to the above, elements were blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 5, to prepare compacts by press molding. The compacts were heat treated under conditions shown in Table 6, to liberate carbon. Table 6 shows carbon contents after such heat treatment, with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. The heat treated compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 7 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, yttrium and elements (additives), belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table, of the as-formed sintered bodies.

1 part by weight of yttrium oxide in terms of the simple substance of yttrium and 1 part by weight of titanium oxide in terms of the simple substance of titanium were added to 100 parts by weight of AlN powder having a mean particle diameter of 1 .mu.m. Octadiene was added to this powder as a deflocculant, and then mixed with the same in methylisobutylketone in a ball mill. The as-formed slurry was dried under a temperature of 230.degree. C., to prepare a compact by a CIP method. This compact was fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere containing 30 volume percent of butane gas and a rest of ammonia gas at a temperature of 1800.degree. C. for one hour. Thus, a black sintered body was obtained.

The as-formed sintered body was subjected to measurement of heat conductivity at the ordinary temperature and contents of carbon, yttrium and titanium, similarly to Example 1. As the result, the sintered body exhibited heat conductivity of 150 W/m.multidot.K and contents of carbon, yttrium and titanium of 0.01 parts by weight, 0.94 parts by weight and 0.97 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. A sample No. 55 shown in Tables 8, 9 and 10 was formed by this aluminum nitride sintered body.

In a similar manner to the above, elements were blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 8, to prepare compacts by a CIP method. The compacts were fired in non-oxidizing atmospheres having compositions shown in Table 9 at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 10 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, yttrium and elements (additives), belonging to the groups IVB, VB and VIB of the periodic table, of the as-formed sintered bodies.

20 parts by weight of hexagonal BN, 1 part by weight of carbon black having a BET value of 250 m.sup.2 /g, 1 part by weight of scandium oxide in terms of the simple substance of scandium, and 1 part by weight of titanium oxide in terms of the simple substance of titanium were added to 100 parts by weight of AlN powder having a mean particle diameter of 1 .mu.m. A binder, a plasticizer, a solvent and a wetting agent were added to this powder and mixed in a ball mill. The binder was prepared from a mixture of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polypropylene (PP). The plasticizer was prepared from a mixture of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP). The solvent was prepared from butyl alcohol. The as-formed slurry was granulated by spray drying, and press-molded under a pressure of 1 ton/cm.sup.2. The as-formed compact was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1900.degree. C. for 2 hours. Thus, a black sintered body was obtained.

The as-formed sintered body was subjected to measurement of heat conductivity at the ordinary temperature and contents of carbon, scandium and titanium, similarly to Example 1. As the result, the sintered body exhibited heat conductivity of 130 W/m.multidot.K and contents of carbon, scandium and titanium of 0.02 parts by weight, 0.88 parts by weight and 0.81 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of AlN. A sample No. 79 shown in Tables 11 and 12 was formed by this aluminum nitride sintered body.

In a similar manner, titanium oxide having rutile-type crystals was employed as a compound containing an element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table and blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 11, to prepare compacts by press molding. The compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 12 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, rare earth elements and titanium of the as-formed sintered bodies.

Tungsten oxide was employed as a compound containing an element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table and blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 13, to prepare compacts by a doctor blade coater, similarly to Example 1. The compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 14 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, rare earth elements and tungsten of the as-formed sintered bodies.

Tungsten oxide was employed as a compound containing an element belonging to the group IVB, VB or VIB of the periodic table and blended in accordance with compositions shown in Table 15, to prepare compacts by a doctor blade coater similarly to Example 1. The compacts were fired at temperatures in a range of 1500.degree. to 2100.degree. C.

Table 16 shows color tones, heat conductivity values and contents of carbon, rare earth elements and tungsten of the as-formed sintered bodies.

Comparing the heat conductivity values and the color tones of the samples obtained according to the aforementioned Examples and comparative examples, the inventive samples exhibited heat conductivity values of at least 100 W/m.multidot.K with colors of gray or black. On the other hand, black comparative samples exhibited heat conductivity values of less than 100 W/m.multidot.K, while those exhibiting heat conductivity values exceeding 100 W/m.multidot.K were merely colored in white or spotted.

A green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 1 was prepared. A caking additive such as polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl methacrylate or ethyl cellulose was mixed with a solvent such as butyl carbitol or .alpha.-terpineol, to prepare a vehicle. Thereafter tungsten powder of 2 .mu.m in mean particle diameter was mixed with this vehicle in a weight ratio 100:20, to prepare metallized paste. The as-formed metallized paste was applied onto the green sheet by screen printing, and the green sheet was subjected to sheet working and lamination. Then the green sheet coated with the metallized paste was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1800.degree. C. for one hour. Nickel plating, brazing and gold plating were performed on the as-formed sintered body, to prepare a flat package.

An IC chip having an output of 2 W was joined/packaged onto the flat package with gold silicon solder in the air at a temperature of 300.degree. C. This IC chip was bonded by hot ultrasonic bonding using a gold wire, and driven. The temperature of the IC chip remained at 52.degree. C., which was lower by 13.degree. C. than that resulting from a test made on a similar green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 25 (comparative example).

It was recognized that insulability was remarkably excellent with interwiring insulation resistance of 10.sup.14 .OMEGA..multidot.cm. In order to measure adhesion strength between a tungsten conductor layer formed by the aforementioned metallized paste and the heat conductive colored aluminum sintered body, a wire was soldered to a portion 1 mm square after gold plating and perpendicularly pulled with respect to the substrate. As the result, it was confirmed that adhesion strength was at a practically nonproblematic value of 3.5 kg/mm.sup.2.

The sintered body of the sample No. 1 was metallized with gold, and a lead frame of an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy was joined thereto with fusible glass, to prepare a ceramic quad flat package (QFP). An IC chip having an output of 2 W was carried on the as-formed package by a method similar to that in Example 6 and driven. The temperature of this IC chip remained at 56.degree. C., which was lower by 21.degree. C. than that resulting from a test made on a ceramic quad flat package similarly prepared from the sintered body of the sample No. 25 (comparative example).

It was recognized that insulability was remarkably excellent with interwiring insulation resistance of 10.sup.14 .OMEGA..multidot.cm. It was also confirmed that airtightness measured with a helium leak checker was at a practically nonproblematic level of 1.times.10 .sup.-8 atm.multidot.cc/sec.

The sintered body of the sample No. 1 was metallized with gold, and a lead frame of an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy was joined thereto with fusible glass, to prepare a ceramic QFP. A copper wiring pattern was formed on a polyimide film, and an IC chip having an output of 2 W was carried thereon with a gold bump. This structure was joined/packaged onto the ceramic QFP with gold silicon solder in the air at a temperature of 300.degree. C., and then the IC chip was driven. The temperature of the IC chip remained at 60.degree. C., which was lower by 26.degree. C. than that resulting from a test made on a ceramic QFP prepared from a green sheet of the same composition as the sample No. 25 (comparative example).

It was confirmed that insulability was remarkably excellent with interwiring insulation resistance of 10.sup.14 .OMEGA..multidot.cm. It was also confirmed that airtightness measured with a helium leak checker was at a practically nonproblematic level of 1.times.10.sup.-8 atm.multidot.cc/sec.

A green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 1 was prepared. A caking additive such as polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl methacrylate or ethyl cellulose was mixed with a solvent such as butyl carbitol or .alpha.-terpineol, to prepare a vehicle. Thereafter tungsten powder of 2 .mu.m in mean particle diameter was mixed with this vehicle in a weight ratio 10:20, to prepare metallized paste. The as-formed metallized paste was applied onto the green sheet by screen printing, and the green sheet was subjected to sheet working and lamination. The green sheet coated with the metallized paste was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1750.degree. C. for 2 hours. Further, nickel plating, brazing and gold plating were performed on the as-formed sintered body, to prepare a pin grid array (PGA).

An IC chip having an output of 2 W was joined/packaged onto the as-formed package with gold silicon solder, in the air at a temperature of 300.degree. C. The IC chip was bonded by hot ultrasonic bonding with a gold wire, and then driven. The temperature of the IC chip remained at 30.degree. C., which was lower by 9.degree. C. than that resulting from a test made on a flat package prepared from a green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 25 (comparative example).

It was confirmed that insulability was remarkably excellent with interwiring insulation resistance of 10.sup.14 .OMEGA..multidot.cm. In order to measure adhesion strength between a tungsten conductor layer formed by the aforementioned metallized paste and the heat conductive aluminum nitride sintered body, a pin of an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy, which was joined to the substrate through the conductor layer, was perpendicularly pulled with respect to the substrate. As the result, it was confirmed that the adhesion strength was at a practically nonproblematic level of 3.7 kg/mm.sup.2.

A green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 1 was prepared. A caking additive such as polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl methacrylate or ethyl cellulose was mixed with a solvent such as butyl carbitol or .alpha.-terpineol, to prepare a vehicle. Thereafter tungsten powder of 2 .mu.m in mean particle diameter was mixed with this vehicle in a weight ratio 100:20, to prepare metallized paste. The metallized paste was applied onto the green sheet by screen printing, and the green sheet was subjected to sheet working and lamination. The green sheet coated with the metallized paste was fired in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 1850.degree. C. for 3 hours. Further, nickel plating and gold plating were performed on the as-formed sintered body, to prepare a leadless chip carrier (LCC).

An IC chip having an output of 2 W was joined/packaged onto this LCC with gold silicon solder, in the air at a temperature of 300.degree. C. The IC chip was bonded by hot ultrasonic bonding with a gold wire, and then driven. The temperature of the IC chip remained at 33.degree. C., which was lower by 12.degree. C. than that resulting from a test made on a flat package prepared from a green sheet having the same composition as the sample No. 25 (comparative example).

It was confirmed that insulability was remarkably excellent with interwiring insulation resistance of 10.sup.14 .OMEGA..multidot.cm. In order to measure adhesion strength between a tungsten conductor layer formed by the metallized paste and the heat conductive colored aluminum nitride sintered body, gold plating was performed on the conductor layer, and a wire was soldered to a portion 1 mm square and perpendicularly pulled with respect to the substrate. As the result, it was confirmed that the adhesion strength was at a practically nonproblematic level of 3.8 kg/mm.sup.2.

According to the present invention, as hereinabove described, it is possible to obtain a colored aluminum nitride sintered body which has excellent heat conductivity. The inventive aluminum sintered body is usefully applied to an electronic material for an PC package, a substrate or the like, with a high industrial value.