Diamond Composite Heat Spreaders via FAST for IC Thermal Bottlenecks
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing power dissipation in dies and packages due to the rise in transistor count poses a thermal management challenge, limiting the performance of integrated circuits.
Innovation Solution
The use of a diamond composite material with a thermal conductivity of 600 W/(m·K) for integrated heat spreaders, manufactured via field-assisted sintering technology, to enhance heat removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If copper is used for integrated heat spreaders, then thermal conductivity is high, but thermal management performance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining diamond particles (30-65% by volume) with metal matrix (copper, silver, or aluminum) to create an integrated heat spreader with superior thermal conductivity (600-2000 W/mK) while maintaining manufacturability through field-assisted sintering technology. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by achieving higher thermal performance than pure copper while remaining manufacturable through the FAST process.
2Temperature
If diamond composite material is used for integrated heat spreaders, then thermal conductivity increases, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical sintering methods with field-assisted sintering technology that uses pulsed electric current to rapidly heat and densify the diamond-metal composite powder compact. This substitution of the heating mechanism enables manufacturing of diamond composite heat spreaders with high thermal conductivity while avoiding the extreme pressures and temperatures required by conventional sintering methods.
3Productivity
If transistor count increases, then computing performance improves, but power dissipation and thermal management challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses diamond-metal composite materials in the integrated heat spreader to achieve thermal conductivity 5-10 times higher than traditional copper heat spreaders. This enables effective heat removal from high-power-density packages with increased transistor counts, allowing continued performance improvement without thermal management bottlenecks.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The diamond composite material effectively distributes and transfers heat away from hot spots, improving thermal management and enhancing the performance of integrated circuits.
Implementation Method 1
The diamond composite material has a high thermal conductivity, such as a thermal conductivity of at least 600 W/(m·K). The diamond composite material effectively distributes and transfers heat away from hot spots
Implementation Method 2
sintering the powder mix using field assisted sintering technology (FAST) to form a diamond composite material
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies for diamond composite materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, field-assisted sintering technology (FAST) is used to create a diamond composite material that includes diamond particles, copper, and chromium. The chromium can help bond the copper and the diamond particles. The diamond composite material has a high thermal conductivity, such as 500-1,000 W/(m·K). In one embodiment, the diamond composite material may be used in an integrated heat spreader in an integrated circuit component. In other embodiments, the diamond composite material may be used in a heat sink, a cold plate, an internal frame, a chassis, etc.