Thermal Management Techniques for Bonded Electronic Components

"There is a growing need for improvement in the performance of thermally-conductive polymeric adhesives used in the bonding of electronic structures for use in high-temperature environments, such as the operating environment of high power wide bandgapelectronic devices. Many polymeric adhesives for electronics use are epoxide-based. While epoxides offer good processability and have good mechanical and chemical resistance properties, their performance at high temperatures and high humidities is poor.This leads to more frequent and costly repairs due to premature failures. While there are numerous examples of polymers with superior performance to epoxides, few offer the same level of processability or low costs of epoxide-based formulations. We havedeveloped a new resin formulation that, with some modification, will address all of these performance issues. Our patent-pending resin formulation incorporates cyanate esters, bismaleimides and epoxides. It is solvent-free and easily processed. The key tothis formulation is a novel reactive diluent containing both allyl and epoxide functionalities. Incorporation of a novel filler combination into this resin formulation will also allow the preparation of composite materials with improved thermal andelectrical conductivity to better address the thermal and electrical management needs of high power devices There is an immediate need for adhesive materials with improved high temperature performan