Investigation of interfacial reactions and its effects on the thermal properties of cordierite-AlN composites for microelectronic packaging applications

• Main Author: Ong, Soon Hoe.
• Other Authors: Oh Joo Tien
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/35765
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Advances in microelectronic devices have been made possible by the constant miniaturization of devices through advanced materials and processes. This ongoing strive for better performance has led to the desire to improve the reliability of microelectronic packages. The development and design optimisation of such new and custom packages requires the understanding of thermal management and electrical characteristics to meet enhanced performance. Hence, factors such as heat dissipation, thermal coefficient of expansion and dielectric constant need to be considered when selecting an optimum material for packaging application. Composite samples consisting of varying amounts of Cordierite and Aluminium Nitride (AlN) have been fabricated with the aim of achieving optimum thermal conductivity and signal integrity in substrates of packaging materials. This project involves the characterization of the composite from the microstructure and studies the interfacial reactions between two compounds, and their effects on the overall thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivities of the samples were matched with various theoretical models to help in the deduction of a general structure and micro-structural changes within the composite internally. The models used for prediction are the five fundamental analytical models which include the Series, the Parallel, 2 forms of Maxwell-Eucken models and the Effective Medium Theory (EMT) model. A unifying model has been used as a comparison to the derived effective thermal conductivities of the samples.