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Thermal properties of nanocrystalline Al composites reinforced by AlN nanoparticles

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Abstract

To explore potential applications of nanocomposites for microelectronic packaging, the thermal properties were investigated on newly developed nanocrystalline Al composites reinforced by AlN nanoparticles. It was found that the thermal conductivity (TC) is reduced with increasing AlN volume fraction (Vp), since connectivity of Al matrix is decreased by introduction of the nanoparticles. Although AlN nanoparticles introduce thermal resistance, they still have significant contribution to the TC of the composite as high-TC inclusion. Particularly, a percolation behavior of AlN nanoparticles is thought to occur with the threshold at 23–30%. Measurements at elevated temperatures (∼500 °C) show almost no distinct degradation of TC relative to room temperature. Moreover, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is remarkably lowered as Vp increases, e.g., from 26 × 10−6 to 13.9 × 10−6 K−1, by raising Vp to 39%. Therefore, the nanocomposites may be applicable as electronic packaging material, due to the combination of acceptable TC and low CTE.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Y.B. Tang for thermal expansion measurement and Dr. G.H. He and B.Q. Wang, engineer, for help in thermal diffusivity measurement and meaningful discussions. The authors also would like to thank the reviewer for the contribution of EC data analysis and the proposal of the percolation interpretation of our results. We also want to thank another review for the suggestion on the interpretation of TC of the matrix. The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50371083).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Y. Q. Liu, H. T. Cong & H. M. Cheng

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  1. Y. Q. Liu
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  2. H. T. Cong
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  3. H. M. Cheng
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Correspondence to H. T. Cong.

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Liu, Y.Q., Cong, H.T. & Cheng, H.M. Thermal properties of nanocrystalline Al composites reinforced by AlN nanoparticles. Journal of Materials Research 24, 24–31 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2009.0034

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