DESCRIPTION:
This invention is a materials science solution for managing thermal challenges in increasingly high power applications and “hot” chip packages. For microelectronics and laser companies using high power packages, this BU thermal interposer technology offers a means for integrated circuits built into high-end notebook computers, workstations and servers to continue to operate reliably at higher temperatures.
This BU invention is based on the use of metal nanostructures with very high thermal conductivity that are designed to penetrate the surfaces they are brought against, thereby greatly reducing the interfacial resistance. This meshing turn enables a significant increase in possible power dissipation. In one embodiment, thermally conductive carbon or metal spheres, rods, spikes, and tubes with fin protrusions are suspended in an electrically insulating adhesive carrier along a compression axis. Fitting the nanostructures between the chip and the heat sink allows the construct to more closely match the Coefficients of Thermal Expansion.
Current electronics industry thermal management based on Indium solder or thermal grease will be strained as dissipation requirements exceed 150W/cm2. Using Indium as a thermal interface material is an expensive proposition and also introduces reliability concerns. Projected supply constraints will exacerbate the price of Indium. Thermal grease limits device life-span because of deterioration under thermal cycling; as the grease dries out, its resistance rises. The BU technology, by contrast, offers the means to replace a significant percentage of bulk Indium with metal nanostructures having fins or spikes in contact with each other, allowing heat to percolate through and out. Thermal grease can also be filled with interlocking nanostructures. The novel approach reduces interfacial resistance by an order of magnitude and enables a significant increase in dissipation associated with increasingly high power electronics.
KEYWORDS:
anisotropic adhesive interposers; thermal management; interfacial resistance; percolation
INVENTORS:
Co-inventor Bahgat Sammakia holds 13 U.S. patents related to heat transfer and electronics packaging. After a career in the microelectronics industry, Dr. Sammakia joined the University as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and directs the New York State Center of Excellence for Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging.
COMPLIMENTARY INVENTION:
Nanomaterials Construction of Thermal Interface Material (RB-253)
AVAILABILITY:
PATENT STATUS:
Patent pending (U.S. Patent Application # 10/402,293 Filing Date: 3/31/03) |
