The metal-ceramic interface between copper and alumina has been studied by TEM, Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). of partic-ular interest is the potential role of silicon which is the major impurity in commercial alumina. This investigation focuses on the presence and distribution of silicon within the bulk alumina and at the diffusion bonded CU-AI2O3 interface using a Topcon 002B TEM equipped with an EDAX EDX detector and a Gatan Imaging Filter. The interface was created under vacuum by diffusion bonding of 100/xm copper foils (99.999% purity) pressed between polished alumina substrates (∼99.5% purity) for several hours at ∼90% of the melting temperature of the metal.

An initial investigation of the bulk AI2O3 indicated that the majority of the Si occurred at the triple points. A typical example is shown in Fig. la. EDX spectra acquired with a 6nm probe from the center of the junction (Fig. lbi) and at the grain boundary indicate that the Si wets the grain boundary to a limited extent.