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VGCF/Carbon composites have been shown to demonstrate high thermal conductivity, comparable to that of CVD diamond, implying utility in high performance electronic packaging. VGCF/carbon composites are unlike diamond in that, typical of most fiber reinforced composites, designed physical properties are incorporated into the composite through fiber architecture. Thermal performance for die cooling is frequently determined by the thermal impedance of the package, measured from the junction to ambient, ϕja, or jucntion to case, ϕjc. This paper reports the results of this test on VGCF/carbon composites with a 1D architecture.

The development of chemically vapor deposited (CVD) diamond promises to greatly impact numerous technologies, and in particular the field of thermal management. Despite its current high cost, the physical properties of CVD diamond are so attractive, compared to currently implemented materials, that its use is justified in a few demanding or previously impossible applications. Unfortunately, at $50 or more per carat, the cost/performance ratio is well beyond the limits that would make it useful for many more widely spread applications. This paper describes an affordable variant of CVD diamond that is under development for thermal management in electronics. This material, designated “diamond/carbon/carbon composite,” consists of a carbon/carbon composite that is partially infiltrated with CVD diamond in the surface region. The performance advantages of DCC relative to current thermal management materials are analyzed, and the cost advantages relative to pure CVD diamond are discussed.

In this paper, we describe our accomplishments in infiltrating a carbon/carbon composite material with polycrystalline diamond. This development results in an ultra high thermal conductivity electronics baseplate featuring an electrically insulating coating with high thermal conductivity. This novel composite material exhibits thermal conductivity higher than all existing coldplate materials. We have prepared diamond-infiltrated composites, and characterized the resulting material including the thermal conductivity measurement of the base carbon/carbon, SEM and Raman spectroscopy, and DC electrical resistivity measurements of the integrated diamond/carbon/carbon composites. We have achieved metallization of the diamond surface, demonstrating in part the feasibility of surface mount technology applied to the dielectric heat sink composite. We discuss our technical accomplishments to date, our objectives for the ongoing technical program and future applications of this material.