A review of processing of Cu/C base plate composites for interfacial control and improved properties

Abstract

The increase in both power and packing densities in power electronic devices has led to an increase in the market demand for effective heat-dissipating materials with a high thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient compatible with chip materials while still ensuring the reliability of the power modules. Metal matrix composites, especially copper matrix composites, containing carbon fibers, carbon nanofibers, or diamond are considered very promising as the next generation of thermal-management materials in power electronic packages. These composites exhibit enhanced thermal properties, as compared to pure copper, combined with lower density. This paper presents powder metallurgy and hot uniaxial pressing fabrication techniques for copper/carbon composite materials which promise to be efficient heat-dissipation materials for power electronic modules. Thermal analyses clearly indicate that interfacial treatments are required in these composites to achieve high thermal and thermomechanical properties. Control of interfaces (through a novel reinforcement surface treatment, the addition of a carbide-forming element inside the copper powders, and processing methods), when selected carefully and processed properly, will form the right chemical/mechanical bonding between copper and carbon, enhancing all of the desired thermal and thermomechanical properties while minimizing the deleterious effects. This paper outlines a variety of methods and interfacial materials that achieve these goals.

Effect of graphite and graphene oxide on thorium carbide microstructural and thermal properties

“…The idea behind this work was to let nano-ThO 2 react with two different carbon sources (graphite and graphene oxide) at high temperature in an inert atmosphere, to obtain ThC 2 -carbon nanocomposites and to verify the retention of high SSA in the final material. Composites materials demonstrated 16 better thermal properties and thus are of interest for our application. In our previous collaborative work, graphene had the effect of improving thermal properties of uranium carbide–carbon composites 17 .…”

Laser 3D printing of complex copper structures

“…The high thermal conductivity (~ 400 W/m•K) of pure copper (Cu) makes it an essential material for thermal management applications in numerous industries, such as microelectronic manufacturing, power plants, and aerospace [1][2][3][4][5]. However, the shape (i.e., surface area) of heat sinks plays a crucial role in heat dissipation, and due to the current fabrication limitation is often a simple geometry [6,7].…”

Effects of Current Annealing on Thermal Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes

“…Previous studies on CNTs have concentrated on the preparation [ 3 , 4 ], the optimization of the mechanical properties of CNTs composites [ 5 , 6 ] and the enhancement of the effectiveness of CNTs as capacitor electrode materials [ 7 ]. In recent years, studies have shown that high temperature annealing is an effective approach to improve the structure and thermal conductivity of carbon materials [ 8 , 9 ]. Chen et al [ 10 ] found that thermal treatment is capable of repairing the structure of graphene and making graphene sheets accumulate more regularly.…”