Investigating the Feasibility of Preparing Metal–Ceramic Multi-Layered Composites Using Only the Aerosol-Deposition Technique

The preparation of metal–ceramic layered composites remains a challenge due to the incompatibilities of the materials at the high temperatures of the co-firing process. For densification, the ceramic thick-film materials must be subjected to high-temperature annealing (usually above 900 °C), which can increase the production costs and limit the use of substrate or co-sintering materials with a low oxidation resistance and a low melting point, such as metals. To overcome these problems, the feasibility of preparing dense, defect-free, metal–ceramic multilayers with a room-temperature-based method should be investigated. In this study, we have shown that the preparation of ceramic–metal Al(2)O(3)/Al/Al(2)O(3)/Gd multilayers using aerosol deposition (AD) is feasible and represents a simple, reliable and cost-effective approach to substrate functionalisation and protection. Scanning electron microscopy of the multilayers showed that all the layers have a dense, defect-free microstructure and good intra-layer connectivity. The top Al(2)O(3) dielectric layer provides excellent electrical resistance (i.e., 7.7 × 10(12) Ω∙m), which is required for reliable electric field applications.