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M. Franz, M. Weilguni:
"Life Cycle Inventories of LTCC Substrates";
Talk: ISSE 2011, Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia; 05-11-2011 - 05-13-2011; in: "Proceedings of the 2011 34th International Spring Seminar on Electronics Technology", IEEE, (2011), ISBN: 978-1-4577-2112-0; 509 - 514.

This study provides life cycle inventory data of a small batch production of two different
types of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates, HERAEUS CT 765 and CERAMTEC GC,
with the main focus on the pre-using phase. A comprehensive life cycle flowchart of LTCC devices
produced in a prototyping research laboratory was generated. Preliminary results of life cycle
inventory (LCI) data were achieved through measurements of energy consumption of the laboratory
equipment, weight measurements of the ceramic substrates and auxiliary materials, as well as
calculations based on literature data. The comparison of the energy consumption values in the life
cycle shows that the co-firing process has the highest environmental impact. The results of MIPS
show that the packing material has the highest environmental impact, even though only one of at least
four packing processes in the life cycle was considered. Data on the energy consumption and the
MIPS in individual studies lead to very different environmental impact results.

LTCC, life cycle inventory LCI, LCA, environmental impact, electronics

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ISSE.2011.6053939