Review of Bi₂O₃ based glasses for electronics and related applications

Abstract

The present work critically reviews the scientific and patent literature on low melting bismuth based oxide glass frits in materials for electronics, sensors and related applications such as sealing glasses, solar cells, architectural and automotive glass, the main motivation being to replace lead based materials by environmentally more benign ones. Due to similar glass forming properties of Bi and Pb, Bi based glasses are the closest 'drop-in' alternative for lead bearing formulations, and are therefore actually replacing them in many applications, helped also by previous experience with Bi containing materials in thick film technology and component metallisations. The outstanding issues are discussed, e.g. matching the lowest processing temperatures achieved by the classical lead based glasses without sacrificing durability and stability, as well as stability versus chemical reduction. Finally, consideration is also given to special 'heavy' glasses (often containing Bi and Pb together) that are useful in fields such as optics, superconductors and nuclear technology, as well as to specific Bi 2 O 3 containing crystalline compounds.Keywords: Glasses, Bismuth, Bi 2 O 3 , Electronics, Optics, Thick film technology, Sensors Introduction Low melting glasses in electronics and other applicationsAs for ceramics, inorganic glasses, glass-ceramic and glaze materials have long gone beyond their traditional uses to address a wide array of modern technological challenges, Owing to performance and cost criteria, most standard glasses have relatively high softening points. However, there are many technological applications where a low softening temperature is required, in order to lower energy expenditure, avoid damaging devices in contact with the glass during processing or ensure compatibility with other materials:(i) hermetic sealing of packages, lamps, electrical feedthroughs and semiconductor devices 13,14,16,17,19,44,45 (ii) hermetic sealing and mechanical attachment of sensors 23,27 ( Fig. 1) (iii) encapsulation of semiconductor devices 29,30 (iv) overglazing of automotive, packaging and architectural glass 33,34,[46][47][48] (v) photovoltaic (PV) solar cell technology -conductors and contacts 42,43,[49][50][51][52][53] (vi) enamelling of aluminium in architecture and home appliances 35,[54][55][56][57][58] (vii) thick film (TF) electronics and other devices 21,22,24,25,27,59 (Fig. 1, the section on 'PbO in low melting frits and TF technology'); especially, special low firing compositions for fabrication of circuits and sensors on glass or metals. 1,28,[66][67][68][69][70][71][72] For these applications, glasses are often formulated as frits (e.g. finely divided powder), which may be applied, dispersed in a suitable medium, onto a substrate by various methods such as slip casting, screen printing, roller/curtain coating, spraying, dispensing and electrophoresis, or as preforms for sealing. Classically, the aforementioned applications have to a great extent used lead based glasses, which have a rather unique combinat...

EXAFS studies of the local structure of bismuth centers in multicomponent silica glass based optical fiber preforms

“…This value for the CN is reasonably near the value found in the EXAFS data fit (~2.0 ± 0.7) Å and can be easily interpreted from a geometrical point of view. Indeed, among the various coordination polyhedra found around Bi in oxides, a structure consisting of a trigonal O pyramid with the electron lone pair positioned opposite to the oxygen atoms plane was reported [33]. It is therefore reasonable to infer that Bi in the glassy matrix has 3-coordinated sites with a 3+ valence state.…”

Laser Patterning of Non-Linear Optical Bi2ZnB2O7 Crystal Lines in Glass

“…Nowadays, it has been well recognized that Bi2O3 oxide is one of the important constituents for the design and control of optical, electrical, and thermal properties of oxide glasses, and numerous studies on Bi2O3-based glasses have been studied so far (Dumbaugh, 1985;Maeder 2013). The most attractive features of Bi2O3 oxide are a large electronic polarizability and a weak single bond strength of Bi-O bonds (Dimitrov and Komatsu, 1999Komatsu et al, 2010).…”

“…In this paper, we demonstrated that Bi2ZnB2O7 crystal lines with a high orientation were patterned in Bi2O3-ZnO-B2O3 glasses by laser irradiations for the first time. Glasses based on the Bi2O3-ZnO-B2O3 system have also received much attention as new low-melting and shielding glasses (Maeder, 2013), and from this point of view, the understanding of the crystallization behaviors of Bi2O3-ZnO-B2O3 glasses is extremely important. The laser patterning of functional crystals in Bi2O3-based glasses has a great potential in application of nonlinear optical integrated devices (Liu et al, 2015) and is at the frontiers of glass science and technology in Bi2O3-based glasses.…”

β−Bi2O3under compression: Optical and elastic properties and electron density topology analysis

“…In particular, works related to bismuth oxide (Bi 2 O 3 ) have doubled in the last decade, thus reflecting the scientific, technological, and industrial importance of this compound. Its peculiar properties, including a large energy gap, a high refractive index and dielectric permittivity, and good photoconductivity [1][2][3][4][5][6], have made Bi 2 O 3 suitable for a large range of applications, such as optical coatings, photovoltaic cells, microwave integrated circuits, fuel cells, oxygen sensors, oxygen pumps, and catalytic activity [3,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”