CVD DIAMOND PACKAGING SYSTEMS FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE ELECTRONICS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF EMPLOYING DIAMOND FILM TO IMPROVE THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF SOME COMMONLY USED ELECTRONIC PACKAGING MATERIALS AND TO RELATE FILM MICROSTRUCTURE TO THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY. TO ACHIEVE THIS OBJECTIVE WE WILL CORRELATE THE CONDITIONS OF THIN FILM DIAMOND SYNTHESIS BY PE-CVD WITH THE RESULTING AS-DEPOSITED MICROSTRUCTURE. THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF THE FILMS WILL BE CHARACTERIZED TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY IS AFFECTED BY DEPOSITION PARAMETERS AND SUBSTRATE MATERIAL. THE FACTORS THAT GOVERN THE ADHESION BETWEEN THE DIAMOND AND SUBSTRATE MATERIALS WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED. CHARACTERIZATION DATA WILL BE COMPARED TO DEPOSITION PARAMETERS AND SUBSTRATE MATERIAL TO DETERMINE WHICH PARAMETERS MOST STRONGLY GOVERN THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY IN CVD DIAMOND THIN FILMS, SUPPORTING A PREDICTIVE MODEL OF DIAMOND DEPOSITION PARAMETERS AND RESULTING PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROJECT A NUMBER OF DIAMOND SAMPLES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS FOR PERFORMANCE TESTING, PAVING THE WAY FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS ENGINEERING IN A PHASE II SBIR PROJECT.