Copper matrix thermal conductive composites with low thermal expansion for electronic packaging

Abstract Reducing thermal expansion and improving thermal conductivity of copper based materials are particularly important for improving thermal stability of electronic packaging materials. Herein, Cu/Sc2W3O12/SiC composite with a moderate coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 8.28 ppm/K and a high thermal conductivity of 287.2 W/m⋅K was successfully prepared by partial replacement of Sc2W3O12 by the nano SiC particles to compensate sacrificial thermal conductivity of the reported Cu/Sc2W3O12 composites using a hot-pressing method. Theoretical calculation and Ashby plot map suggests that this Cu/Sc2W3O12/SiC composite facilitate the best combination between tunable thermal expansion and high thermal conductivity, which may due to that SiC nanoparticles can strengthen the driving force of vacuum hot-pressing sintering and thus lead to more homogeneous microstructure accounting for improved thermal reliability. This work can provide useful insights into the design and synthesis of composites used as packaging material for various semiconductors.