ideally , a mic housing will plate easily , weld readily , have good hermetic glass - to - metal sealing properties , and match alumina &# 39 ; s thermal expansion rate . mic housings are additionally constrained in the glass that may be employed in the glass seals . predominantly borosilicate glasses are used because of their superior corrosion resistance and relatively low dielectric constant . a low dielectric constant helps maintain the necessary circuit impedances at small diameters , thereby keeping the overall housing size small . other glass types , e . g ., soda - lead - potash glasses are unsuitable because , ( 1 ) the dielectric constant is too high thereby increasing the housing &# 39 ; s size in order to maintain circuit impedances , and ( 2 ) they have poor corrosion resistance . an alloy of 0 . 02 % c , 0 . 5 % mn , 0 . 35 % si , 48 . 0 % ni , and iron to balance , such as carpenter high permeability &# 34 ; 49 &# 34 ;®, referred to below as carpenter 49 , has been discovered by the present inventors to be particularly useful in mic housings . carpenter 49 is a nickel - iron alloy which has a saturation flux density of approximately 15 , 000 gausses after hydrogen annealing and is principally known for applications in magnetic shields , solid cores for solenoids , and other control devices using magnetics . carpenter 49 is easy to plate , easy to weld , has a low thermal expansion coefficient , and forms good hermetic glass seals . carpenter 49 , when used as a base for attaching alumina substrates , will not cause cracking in the alumina substrates because the minor thermal expansion mismatch between alumina and carpenter 49 results in very low induced stress . in addition , because carpenter 49 expands and contracts more rapidly than alumina , the maximum induced stress in the alumina is compressive . alumina is ten times stronger in compression compared to tension . the key to successfully using carpenter 49 in a mic housing has been found by the inventors to be the annealing process used to form the glass - to - metal hermetic seals . the thermal expansion rate of the desired borosilicate glass is less than that of carpenter 49 at the setting point of the glass . therefore , annealing of the glass must be performed to relieve the residual compressive stresses in the glass which incur during the firing process . such an annealing ensures a reliable glass seal that will withstand the rigors of environmental screening as defined by , but not limited to , mil - std - 883 . prior to firing glass seals , all mic package housings are subjected to : ( 1 ) chemical cleaning by dipping housings in a hot hcl acid bath , ( 2 ) decarburizing / metal outgassing in a 1100 ° c . wet h 2 atmosphere with 50 %- 60 % r . h ., and ( 3 ) oxidizing in an air environment to grow an iron - oxide layer on the housing between two and ten microinches . fig6 shows the required time versus temperature profile to form a good glass - to - metal seal that has been properly annealed . in an atmosphere of nitrogen and beginning at room temperature , at a point 80 , the temperature is raised to approximately 900 ° c . to a point 82 and held there for approximately ten minutes to a point 84 . the temperature is then raised again to approximately 1000 ° c . at a point 86 and held for approximately three minutes until a point 88 . the temperature is then lowered to approximately 490 ° c . to a point 90 , held for approximately twenty minutes at that temperature until a point 92 , and then allowed to cool down to room temperature over approximately a sixty minute time period to a point 94 . fig7 - 10 show an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a mic package , referred to by the general reference character 100 . mic package 100 has a housing 102 made of an alloy of substantially 0 . 02 % c , 0 . 5 % mn , 0 . 35 % si , 48 . 0 % ni , and enough iron to balance such that the thermal expansion rate of the alloy substantially matches that of alumina at approximately 400 ° c . one example of such a commercially available alloy is carpenter high permeability 49 , from carpenter technology corporation . preferably , the housing 102 is nickel plated and then gold plated to enable soldering later . the housing 102 comprises a floor 104 and a wall 106 around the perimeter of the floor 104 thereby forming a cavity 108 . housing 102 is chemically cleaned using a heated hydrochloric acid bath ; and then decarburized in a wet hydrogen environment . housing 102 is then oxidized in an air environment to grow an iron oxide on the surface of the housing with a thickness of 2 - 10 microinches . the oxide layer helps to wet the glass during firing and promotes a hermetic metal - to - glass bonding . a plurality of terminals 110 , each with a glass seal 112 , are then fixtured into the housing 102 using appropriate graphite fixturing . the glass seals 112 are fused / annealed in an atmosphere of nitrogen , according to the thermal profile of fig8 . the latter half of the profile in fig8 the annealing , relieves compressive stresses in the glass seals 112 . the housing 102 is then suitable for attaching an alumina ceramic substrate 113 directly to the floor 104 . alumina ceramic substrates are attached using a &# 34 ; hard solder &# 34 ; gold - tin or gold - germanium eutectic solder ( without flux ). a suitable lid 114 , such as nickel , kovar , or nickel / gold plated kovar , is welded over cavity 108 to form a hermetic seal of any electrical components contained within the cavity 108 . nickel and kovar are preferred lid materials because of their availability and qualification for military procurement . preferably , an inert gas ( not shown ), such as nitrogen , is used to fill the cavity 108 and the gas is contained by lid 114 . circuits are completed to the environment outside housing 102 through the terminals 110 . in addition to its use in mic housings , embodiments of the present invention include joint electrical & amp ; defense electronics committee ( jedec ) specification for &# 34 ; to - 8 &# 34 ; and other &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; series transistor packages . ceramic - to - metal seals are used in all types of electronics devices . these seals often consist of a metallized and plated alumina or beryllia brazed to a kovar alloy member . ( see , p . 7 , &# 34 ; carpenter controlled - expansion alloys ,&# 34 ; a sales brochure published by carpenter technology , carpenter steel division , reading , pa .) by using the techniques described above , the manufacturing yields of devices using carpenter 49 will be improved by the elimination of alumina substrate 113 cracking . although the present invention has been described in terms of the presently preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting . various alterations and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after having read the above disclosure . accordingly , it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as covering all alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .