High Performance Heat Spreaders for High Heat Flux Power Electronic Modules

The proposed Navy SBIR program will develop a high performance heat spreader technology that can be integrated into power semiconductor die packages to acquire and spread high heat fluxes exceeding 1,000W/cm2. The heat spreader will also interface withother parts of the thermal management system to effectively transport and dissipate the large heat loads to maintain the safe operating temperature of the semiconductor. The Phase I objective is to verify the feasibility of integrating the proposed conceptin a shipboard environment. Design feasibility studies will be performed to assess the system benefits of the proposed integration schemes and generate feasible component designs for the Phase II prototype demonstration. The Phase I results will bring theproposed concept to the DOD defined Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3: Characteristic proof of concept. The Phase II program will focus on upgrading the technology to TRL 6 (prototype demonstration in a relevant environment) by integrating and testing aprototype heat spreader in a 250kWe power module. The follow-on Phase III program will further upgrade the technology to TRL 8 (actual system completed and qualified through test and demonstration) through full-scale integration and testing under actualconditions. While the proposal focuses on thermal management of solid state power conversion modules, the proposed heat spreader technology are also applicable to other military high heat flux applications such as solid state diode lasers, a criticaltechnology for Directed Energy Weapons and High Power Radars. In addition to military and aerospace applications, there are numerous commercial applications for the proposed technology, including cooling of high-end workstations and servers, powerelectronics for electric and hybrid vehicles, and optoelectronics such as laser diodes for telecommunication. These markets are synergistic in that technical development in one aid all, and commercial progress in one will increase the production base andreduce unit costs for all. The technology developed through this Navy SBIR program will provide the market with a higher performance alternative to the existing heat spreading technologies and products (e.g. vapor chamber heat pipes, diamond spreaders, andhigh-conductivity interface and composite materials).