System Maintenance occurs every Friday.

Advanced Thermal Management and Packaging Materials

The electronic and photonic (e.g. laser diodes, LEDs, displays, etc.) industries face critical heat dissipation, thermal stress, weight and size problems. In the aerospace industry, this issue is called SWaP (size, weight and power). In response to the significant deficiencies of traditional thermal management materials, there are an increasing number of advanced materials. They have low coefficient of thermal expansions (CTEs), low-densities, and thermal conductivities up to 1700 W/m-K. Some are now low cost; others have the potential to be low cost in high-volume. They are being used in every packaging level, from module to enclosure. Production applications include numerous commercial and aerospace/defense electronic and photonic systems, including handsets, servers, laptops, cellular telephone base stations, electric and hybrid vehicles, power modules, high-power RF, phased array antennas, avionics, vetronics, telecommunications, laser diodes, LEDs, and displays, among many others. To illustrate the advantages, one IGBT manufacturer reports that replacing copper base plates with an advanced material eliminates solder joint failure (“The failure mechanism does not exist any longer”). Weight savings as high as 85% have been demonstrated. Advanced thermal materials are also being used to reduce surface temperatures of consumer products. Advanced Thermal Management and Packaging Materials is a 2-day course that covers the increasing number of advanced thermal management materials and provides an in-depth discussion of properties, manufacturing processes, applications, cost, lessons learned, typical development programs, and future directions. Traditional materials are discussed for reference. The focus is on materials used for heat spreaders, heat sinks, substrates, printed circuit boards (PCBs), enclosures/chassis, etc., but we also consider emerging advanced thermal interface materials (TIMs).

Participants are invited to bring their thermal management problems for discussion. This course is designed for every manager, engineer, and technician concerned with packaging materials, using semiconductor components, or supplying materials to the industry.

Register for this Course

Cost

$1,395

Pay Via Credit Card

Add To Shopping Cart

Pay Via Purchase Order/Check

Please note: If you or your company plan to pay by wire transfer, you will be charged a wire transfer fee of USD 45.00.

Please email the printable registration form for public courses to us at the email address on the form to complete your order.

Additional Information

If you have any questions concerning this course, please contact us at info@semitracks.com.

Refund Policy

If a course is canceled, refunds are limited to course registration fees. Registration within 21 days of the course is subject to $100 surcharge.

What Will I Learn By Taking This Class?

At the end of this seminar, participants will be able to determine which materials will be best for a given application and will know how to test them, develop analytical models using them, and implement them in the product.

  1. Survey of Traditional Thermal Management and Packaging Materials. Participants learn the thermal and mechanical properties of the many traditional packaging materials. Many engineers are only familiar with copper and aluminum. This segment provides a frame of reference for new materials.
  2. Overview of Composite Materials. Participants learn the characteristics of four important classes of materials systems being used in the industry today: metal matrix composites, polymer matrix composites, carbon matrix composites and ceramic matrix composites.
  3. Advanced Thermal Materials Properties. Participants learn the thermal and mechanical properties of the many advanced carbon-based and composite materials.
  4. Manufacturing Methods. Participants learn the manufacturing methods behind these materials.
  5. Cost Issues. Participants learn the issues affecting component and system cost.
  6. Applications. Participants learn the electronic and photonic applications of the materials for both the system and package levels.
  7. Lessons Learned. Learn from the mistakes of others.
  8. Future Directions. We look at likely future developments, including carbon nanotubes and graphite platelets.

Course Objectives

  1. The seminar will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of advanced materials, and how they compare to traditional ones.
  2. Participants will be able to identify appropriate materials for a wide variety of applications.
  3. The seminar will identify key thermal and mechanical properties of both traditional and advanced materials.
  4. The seminar offers the opportunity to ask specific questions to one of the world’s leading experts on thermal management materials.
  5. Participants will be able to understand manufacturing methods for advanced and traditional materials.
  6. Participants will be able to understand the costs and implementation issues associated with a variety of materials.
  7. Learn from the mistakes of others.
  8. Future directions.

Course Outline

Day 1

  1. Introduction
    1. Thermal Management Problem and Packaging Problems
      1. Heat Dissipation
      2. Thermal Stresses and Warping
      3. Weight
      4. Size
      5. Surface temperature
    2. Examples of costly (e.g. $1 billion) thermal problems
    3. Solutions
      1. Advanced Thermal Materials
      2. Thermally-Conductive, Low-CTE PCBs
      3. Combined Cooling Architectures
    4. Packaging Functions
    5. Overview of packaging levels from module to enclosure (chassis)
    6. Key Trends
    7. Packaging Design Drivers
    8. Material Requirements
    9. What’s wrong with Traditional Materials?
    10. Classes of Advanced Materials: Composites, Carbonaceous (Carbon-Based)
    11. History of Composites in Packaging
    12. Example: The Most Successful Advanced Thermal Management Material - Al/SiC
  2. Overview of Composite Materials
    1. Definitions
    2. Terminology
    3. Classes of Composites
    4. Types of Reinforcements
    5. Thermally Conductive Carbon Fibers
    6. Types of Laminates
    7. Thermally Conductive Carbonaceous (Carbon-Based) Materials
    8. Discontinuous vs. Continuous Reinforcements
  3. Material Property and Test Method Issues
    1. Examples of Variability in Reported Material Properties
    2. Sources of Reported Property Variability
  4. Properties of Traditional Packaging Materials
    1. Semiconductors
    2. Ceramic Substrates
    3. Monolithic Metals
    4. Polymers
    5. Metal/Metal Composites and Alloys
      1. Tungsten/Copper
      2. Molybdenum/Copper
      3. Silver/Nickel-Iron
      4. Traditional Silicon/Aluminum
      5. Beryllium/Aluminum
    6. Multimaterial Laminates
      1. Hysteresis in Multimaterial Laminates
      2. Copper/Invar/Copper
      3. Copper/Molybdenum/Copper
    7. Printed Circuit Board Materials
    8. Brief Overview of Thermal Interface Material Properties
    9. Brief Overview of Solder Properties
  5. Properties of Advanced Materials
    1. Overview of Advanced Materials
      1. Moderate-Thermal-Conductivity, Low-CTE Materials (k < 300)
      2. High-Thermal-Conductivity, Low-CTE Materials (300 < k < 400)
      3. Ultrahigh-Thermal-Conductivity, Low-CTE Materials (k > 400)
    2. Advanced Material Payoffs
    3. Disadvantages of Advanced Materials
    4. Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Emissions
    5. Abbreviations
    6. Monolithic Carbonaceous (Carbon-Based) Materials
      1. Industrial Graphite
      2. Flexible and Natural Graphite
      3. Thermal Vias
      4. Flexible Graphite/Epoxy Laminates
      5. Highly-Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG)
        1. Thermal Pyrolytic Graphite
        2. Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite
        3. Other products
      6. Encapsulated HOPG
      7. Using the anisotropic properties of graphite to reduce surface temperature of consumer devices
      8. Graphite Foams
      9. Thermally Conductive Carbon Fibers
      10. Diamond Particles and Fibers
      11. Carbon Nanotubes
      12. Graphite platelets
    7. Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs)
      1. Unidirectional Carbon/Epoxy
      2. Quasi-Isotropic Carbon/Epoxy
      3. PMCs Reinforced with Discontinuous Carbon Fibers
      4. Aramid/Epoxy (Low-CTE Thermal Insulator)
    8. Advanced Thermal Interface Materials
      1. “Gelvet”
      2. Carbon Nanofiber-Reinforced Epoxy
      3. Nickel Fiber/Epoxy
      4. Other

Day 2

  1. Properties of Advanced Materials (Continued from Day 1)
    1. Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) and Advanced Alloys-Composites
      1. Boron/Aluminum
      2. Continuous Carbon Fiber/Aluminum
      3. Continuous Carbon Fiber/Copper
      4. Hysteresis in Metal Matrix Composites
      5. Al/SiC (Silicon Carbide Particle-Reinforced Aluminum)
        1. Powder Metallurgy
        2. Pressure Infiltrated
        3. Pressureless Infiltrated
        4. Stir-Cast
        5. Press and Sinter
      6. Beryllium Oxide/Beryllium
      7. Copper-Impregnated Industrial Graphite
      8. Copper-Impregnated Graphite/Carbon Foam
      9. Discontinuous Carbon Fiber/Aluminum
      10. Discontinuous Carbon Fiber/Copper
      11. Carbon Nanofiber/Copper
      12. Carbon Platelet (Flake)/Aluminum
      13. Diamond Particle/Aluminum
      14. Diamond Particle/Magnesium
      15. Diamond Particle + Silicon Carbide Particle/Aluminum
      16. Silicon Carbide Particle/Copper
      17. Diamond Particle/Copper
      18. Diamond Particle/Silver
      19. Diamond Particle/Cobalt
      20. Silicon/Aluminum
      21. Silicon Carbide Fiber/Copper
      22. Low-CTE MMC Solder
    2. Advanced Multimaterial Laminates
      1. Copper/Copper-Molybdenum/Copper
    3. Carbon Matrix Composites (CAMCs)
      1. Carbon/Carbon Composites
    4. Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs)
      1. Diamond Particle/SiC (Silicon-Cemented Diamond)
      2. Carbon Fiber/SiC Composites
      3. Reaction-Bonded SiC
      4. Aluminum-Toughened SiC
  2. Manufacturing Methods for Composite Materials
    1. Overview of Composite Manufacturing Processes
    2. Thermoset Polymer Matrix Composites
    3. Thermoplastic Polymer Matrix Composites
    4. Metal Matrix Composites
    5. Carbon Matrix Composites
    6. Ceramic Matrix Composites
  3. Using Composites to Improve Manufacturing Yield
    1. Warping and Thermal Stresses
    2. Tailoring Composite Properties to Reduce Warping and Thermal Stresses
    3. Example: Using Composites Saved USD $60 Million
  4. Cost Considerations
    1. General Considerations
    2. Reinforcement Costs
    3. Composite Material Costs
  5. Applications
    1. Overview of packaging levels from module to enclosure (chassis)
    2. System Applications
      1. Servers
      2. Notebook Computers
      3. Mobile Telephone Base Stations
      4. Mobile Telephone Handsets
      5. Hybrid and Electric Automobiles
      6. Trains
      7. Wind Turbine Generators
      8. Displays
      9. Liquid Crystal Displays
      10. Telecommunications Equipment
      11. Military Aircraft and Spacecraft Electronic Systems
      12. Solid State Illumination (LEDs)
      13. Laser Diode Systems
      14. Other
    3. Component Applications
      1. Carriers
      2. Microprocessor Heat Spreaders and Lids
      3. Power Modules
      4. RF Modules
      5. Thermoelectric Cooler Substrates
      6. Pin-Fin and Plate-Fin Heat Sinks
      7. Light Emitting Diode (LED) Luminaires
      8. Laser Diode Packages
      9. Printed Circuit Boards
      10. Printed Circuit Board Cold Plates (Heat Sinks, Thermal Planes)
      11. Enclosures
      12. Support Structures
  6. Typical Development Plan for Introduction of Advanced Materials in Products
    1. Establishing Requirements
    2. Selection of Candidate Materials
    3. Material Property Database
    4. Design Trades
    5. Process Development
    6. Prototype Fabrication
    7. Qualification
    8. Production
  7. Lessons Learned
  8. Future Trends
    1. General Trends
    2. Monolithic Materials
    3. Reinforcements, including Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers, Graphite Platelets
    4. Matrix Materials
    5. Polymer Matrix Composites
    6. Metal Matrix Composites
    7. Carbon Matrix Composites
    8. Ceramic Matrix Composites
    9. Solders
    10. High-Performance Thermal Interface Materials
    11. Smart Composites and Multifunctional Materials
    12. Processes
    13. Applications
  9. Summary and Conclusions
  10. Open Discussion

Instructional Strategy

By using a combination of instruction by lecture, problem solving and question/answer sessions, participants will learn practical approaches to choosing the appropriate materials. From the very first moments of the seminar until the last sentence of the training, the driving instructional factor is application. Our instructors are internationally recognized experts in their fields and have years of experience (both current and relevant). The course notes offer hundreds of pages of reference material the participants can use back at their daily activities.

Instructor Profile

Dr. Carl Zweben

Carl Zweben

Dr. Carl Zweben, now an independent consultant, directed development and application of advanced thermal management and packaging materials for over 30 years. He was formerly Advanced Technology Manager and Division Fellow at GE Astro Space, where he directed the Composites Center of Excellence. His group developed and applied advanced thermal management materials and low-CTE printed circuit boards. It was the first to use Al/SiC, which is now well established in microelectronic and photonic packaging. Other affiliations have included Du Pont, where he worked on low-CTE aramid printed circuit board materials, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Georgia Institute of Technology National Science Foundation Packaging Research Center and Materials Sciences Corporation. Dr. Zweben was the first, and one of only two winners of both the GE One-in-a-Thousand and Engineer-of-the-Year awards. He is a Life Fellow of ASME, a Fellow of ASM and SAMPE, an Associate Fellow of AIAA, and has been a Distinguished Lecturer for AIAA and ASME. He has published and lectured widely on advanced thermal management and packaging materials, and has directed and presented over 250 short courses in North America, Europe and Asia.