Thermal Management

In the proposed phase I SBIR program, Powdermet will demonstrate the production ofcontrolled thermal expansion,high thermla conductivity packaging matreials.Increasing packing densities and power consumption in Transmit/recieve modulesrequire improved, higher thermal conductivity packaging to remove heat from activeelements. Current heat spreader materials cannot remove heat fast enough from,or do not match the thermal expansion of, Si, SiC, and/or GaAs substrates using inmilitary electronics. Int he current program, Powdermet will abricate and characterizenet shape fabricated graphite-reinforced copper composite packaging materials fordiscreet, chip-level, and multidie high power electronics packages. The proposedtechnology enables bottom-up control over composition, bonding, and distribution inhighly reinforced composites, extending property ranges by 30-50% (expansion andconductivity)over current state of the art materials systems. The proposed program will result in the availability of higher conductivity materialstailored to electronics packaging. The materials will incease heat dissipation fromactive elements, increasing reliability, speed, and operating limits in T/R modules.The technooogy is applicable to commercial electronics, including both discreet andmultidie packaging.