Recent Advances In Composites For Electronic Packaging

High thermal conductivity, thermal expansion (CTE) control, and maximum specific stiffness make composite materials important candidates for improvements in electronic packaging. Components that can be impacted include thremal planes, chip carriers, core constraint for printed wiring board (PWB), card holders, and the outer construction (boxes). High thermal conductivity graphite fibers (negative CTE) will be evaluated for PWB constraining cores in organic matrix and for thermal plane in aluminum matrix. SIC/AL will be evaluated for card holder and chip carrier. Comparison will be make with more recent composite concepts including glass matrix composites and particulate diamond substituting for SIC. The Phase I study will show through analysis and experimentation, composite properties that are expected for each application. The potential for composite utilization will be assessed both for individual components and multiple composite components in a single electronic package. Potential impact on system capability, reliability and weight/volume savings will be assessed. Of particular interest is a module with all components tailored to chip CTE. The Phase II program will be oriented to composite design data base, assembly of selected components for performance demonstration, performance assessment, identification of Navy system utilization, and system impact analysis.