SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a manufacturing technology to support the pressure infiltration casting process to produce large billets of a graphite-metal material. The improved process will yield to substantial finished part cost saving. There is a critical need for advanced materials with improved thermal properties capable of meeting the thermal management requirements of current and future high power electronic systems. The project will focus on the development of the fundamental basis for the casting manufacturing process and procedures required to produce cost-effective graphite-metal materials. This manufacturing technology could enable cost effective graphite-metal material systems with a thermal conductivity greater than that of copper. The heat dissipation rate of electronic systems has increased dramatically as a result of ongoing advances in semiconductor materials, compression of circuit physical architecture, size reduction of packaging envelops and faster switching speed. The broader impacts from this manufacturing technology being developed could enable the cost effective manufacture of graphite-metal materials that achieve the target thermal properties critical to satisfying thermal management solutions for high power applications for which existing thermal management materials are inadequate. The market point of entry for product produced by the casting technology include: (1) advanced high power military and industrial systems (e.g., phased-array radar systems; high energy laser systems; power control, distribution and management systems); (2) telecommunication base stations and (3) high end computers (e.g., servers, work stations, etc.). The commercial market for these HTCC-based materials will develop over a three to five year period, during which time graphite-metal materials will achieve widespread use in a broad spectrum of military, industrial, and commercial high power electronic applications

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop the use of a gas pressure infiltration casting process to manufacture graphite-metal billet materials that would be used to produce components for high power electronic device packaging. The heat dissipation rate of electronic devices has increased dramatically as a result of advances in semiconductor materials, faster switching speeds, compression of circuit physical architecture, and miniaturization of device envelops. These market trends are expected to continue and there is a critical need for advanced materials with improved thermal conductivity capable of meeting the package heat dissipation requirements of current and future high power electronic systems. In addition the materials will need to have a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that minimizes the CTE mismatch that occurs at the interface between packaging components of different materials. The objective of the Phase II effort is the development and demonstration of cost-effective package assemblies that incorporate graphite-metal components with a thermal conductivity of from 500 to 600 W/m-oK and a coefficient of thermal expansion that can be adjusted between 5.0 and 10 ppm/oC. The markets for packaging products based upon the graphite-metal material technology include: (1) RF power amplifiers for communications systems; (2) switching devices for power conversion systems; and (3) light emitting diode devices for solid state lighting. The research will produce the key knowledge required to enable the production of low-cost, high-volume graphite-metal components to satisfy the packaging requirements for the above applications. The packaging products supported by this manufacturing technology will benefit a broad spectrum of commercial, industrial, and military high power electronics end users. The adoption and wide-spread use of the graphite-metal packaging products for electronic systems will enable commercial electronic devices based upon more efficient higher power semiconductor materials that will provide benefit to society in the form of reduced energy consumption and improved environmental quality.