Texture formation in Al2O3 substrates after green forming and sintering was studied. The results can
be well represented in a texture formation diagram in terms of the green texture and a sintering factor.
The sintering factor is related to grain growth. It can be quantified in terms of sintering time and
temperatur with a growth rate factor depending on boundary energy and mobility. Two different regions
of sintering temperatures can be distinguished of which the high-temperature one is related to liquid
phase sintering.Mechanical properties of the substrates were also studied, particularly thermal cycling fatigue of copper plated substrates as well as thermal shock resistence and bending fracture strength. These properties
are influenced in different ways by the texture. The properties can be understood taking also the
misorientation distribution of the grain boundaries into account.
