HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPOSITE HEAT SINK FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

THE INCREASED DEMANDS FOR LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION AND VERY HIGH SPEED PROCESSING OF INFORMATION HAVE LED TO INCREASING DENSITY OF CHIPS IN ELECTRONIC MODULES. THIS, IN TURN, HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY THE HEAT GENERATED PER UNIT AREA. IN ORDER TO MEET THE NEW DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS, AN INNOVATIVE HEAT SINK CONCEPT IS PROPOSED. THE HEAT SINK WILL HAVE A THERMAL EXPANSION IN THE RANGE OF 2.8 PPM/DEG F AND A THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF AT LEAST 250W/M DEG K TO MEET THE SPECIFICATION OF THE NAVY SEM. THE PROPOSED CONCEPT EMPLOYS CARBON FIBER STRUCTURE EMBEDDED IN RESIN MATRIX IMPREGNATED WITH HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE METAL FILLERS. THE CARBON FIBER STRUCTURE WILL BE DESIGNED USING BRAIDING TECHNOLOGY PROCESSES TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED THERMAL EXPANSION IN THE CRITICAL DIRECTIONS, WHILE USING THE FIBER STRUCTURE WITH THE METAL FILLER TO ACHIEVE THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY NEEDED. THE PHASE I WORK WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED CONCEPT BY ENGINEERING THE FRACTION, TYPE, AND GEOMETRY OF METAL FILLER, RESIN MATRIX, AND FIBER IN THE ASSEMBLY.