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It is rare for a single technology to have the power to dramatically influence almost every major industry in the world. Nanotechnology falls into this category and offers fundamentally new capabilities to architect a broad array of novel materials, composites and structures on a molecular scale. This technology has the potential to drastically re-define the methods used for developing lighter, stronger, and high-performance structures and processes with unique and non-traditional properties. This paper focuses on some of the automotive applications for nanotechnology and showcases a few of them that are believed to have the highest probability of success in this highly competitive industry. No discussion of nanotechnology is complete without touching upon its health and environmental implications.

High power electronic applications in the automotive industry require interconnecting substrates that have high reliability, high thermal conductivity, high current capability, multi-layer potential, and small size. This paper addresses the design requirements for automotive power substrates and how ever increasing demands are challenging the current substrate technology. Four different substrate material types, with various design features, capable of meeting these stringent requirements are described. Thermal impedance testing of each substrate along with design variations to enhance thermal capability was completed. The results of the thermal testing are compared based on appropriate application of the substrate technology.

The requirements for harsh environment (e.g. on-engine, on-or in-transmission) electronic controllers in automotive applications have been steadily becoming more and more stringent. Along with the environmental concerns come the challenges of meeting overall size constraints required of increasingly complex controllers by utilizing finer features and geometries. Electronic substrate technologists have been responding to this challenge effectively in an effort to meet the performance, size and cost requirements. This paper deals with two primary interconnection substrate technologies that are poised to meet the challenge: 1) organic laminate based high performance printed wiring boards and 2) ceramic based substrates.