High Power Electronic Devices Research Articles

Scalable Compliant Graphene Fiber-Based Thermal Interface Material with Metal-Level Thermal Conductivity via Dual-Field Synergistic Alignment Engineering.

High-performance thermal interface materials (TIMs) are highly desired for high-power electronic devices to accelerate heat dissipation. However, the inherent trade-off conflict between achieving high thermal conductivity and excellent compliance of filler-enhanced TIMs results in the unsatisfactory interfacial heat transfer efficiency of existing TIM solutions. Here, we report the graphene fiber (GF)-based elastic TIM with metal-level thermal conductivity via mechanical-electric dual-field synergistic alignment engineering. Compared with state-of-the-art carbon fiber (CF), GF features both superb high thermal conductivity of ∼1200 W m-1 K-1 and outstanding flexibility. Under dual-field synergistic alignment regulation, GFs are vertically aligned with excellent orientation (0.88) and high array density (33.5 mg cm-2), forming continuous thermally conductive pathways. Even at a low filler content of ∼17 wt %, GF-based TIM demonstrates extraordinarily high through-plane thermal conductivity of up to 82.4 W m-1 K-1, exceeding most CF-based TIMs and even comparable to commonly used soft indium foil. Benefiting from the low stiffness of GF, GF-based TIM shows a lower compressive modulus down to 0.57 MPa, an excellent resilience rate of 95% after compressive cycles, and diminished contact thermal resistance as low as 7.4 K mm2 W-1. Our results provide a superb paradigm for the directed assembly of thermally conductive and flexible GFs to achieve scalable and high-performance TIMs, overcoming the long-standing bottleneck of mechanical-thermal mismatch in TIM design.

Tunability of the electronic structure of GaN third generation semiconductor for enhanced band gap: The influence of B concentration

To meet the demand of the future high energy, high voltage, high frequency, high temperature and high power electronic devices, the improvement of wide band gap is very significance for the applications of the third generation semiconductor material. To improve the band gap of GaN, the influence of B-doped concentration on the electronic and optical properties of GaN semiconductor is studied by the first-principles method. Four B-doped concentrations (3.125 at%, 6.25 at%, 12.5 at% and 25 at %) are investigated. The calculated results show that these B-doped GaN are thermodynamic stability because of the negative doped formation energy. In particular, the thermodynamic stability of the B-doped GaN becomes better with increasing B concentration. Importantly, the band gap follows the order of 25 at% B-doping > 12.5 at% B-doping > 6.25 at% B-doping > 3.125 at% B-doping > GaN. The band gap of 25 at% B-doped GaN increases about 70 % compared to GaN. Essentially, the B-doping induces the conduction band to move from the EF to the high energy region, which enhances the difficult of electronic transfer between the valence band and conduction band near the Fermi level. The semiconductor properties of the B-doped GaN are demonstrated by the dielectric functional. In addition, the B-doping is beneficial to improve the storage optical properties of GaN. Therefore, we believe that the B-doping can improve band gap and optical properties of GaN, which is potentially used in the high power, high voltage, low loss devices and deep ultraviolet optoelectronics.

Heat transfer augmentation in a heating surface covered by variable-shape or double-layer porous media subjected to water jet impingement

In this study, a cooling scheme for high-power and highly-integrated electronic devices is proposed in which the heating wall is covered with a variable-shape or double-layer porous medium. The porous media impacted by water jet impinging is covered over the heating surface, wherein heat from bottom wall to porous matrix is transmitted by thermal conduction and dissipated by convection generated by water jet impinging in porous layer. A combination of Brinkman–Darcy–Forchheimer model with energy equations in local thermal equilibrium is employed to describe the hydrothermal transport details in porous matrix, and the k-ε model is used to interpret water jet impinging. The impacts of porous shapes, porosity distributions, and thickness ratios among lower and upper layers with various porosities in gradient variation configuration on heat dissipation capacity are investigated numerically. The numerical calculations are well verified by published experiments. Results show that rectangular porous media covered heating surface is more sensitive to changes in jet velocity, while the mode with triangular porous media results in lower surface temperature and higher heat transfer coefficient at stagnation point. Besides, the rise ratio of heat transfer coefficient of porous configuration with gradient increase in porosity from 0.6 to 0.8 is 11.84% higher than that with gradient decrease in porosity from 0.9 to 0.6. Finally, the optimized shape, porosity arrangement and thickness ratio, jointly affect the heat transport. The results obtained can be used to generalize and apply the coupling of jet impingement with porous media above the heating surface to augment heat transfer.

Highly thermal conductivity polymer composites reinforced by BNNS/UHMWPE fabric for reliable electronic thermal protection and management

With the rapid development of 5G communication and microelectronics technology, the heat accumulation of high-power electronic devices puts forward an urgent demand for high thermal conductivity (TC) composites. However, it's still a great challenge through electrically insulating polymer to achieve good comprehensive performance of high TC, flexibility, and safety reliability. Herein, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabric was coated with boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) by dispersion and interfacial reinforcement of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), and the BNNS/UHMWPE fabric-reinforced polymer composite (B/UF-PC) with 3D continuous thermal pathway was obtained by further composite with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The continuous thermal pathways of highly aligned UHMWPE fibers in the fabric and the synergistic effect of the BNNS network enhance the out-of-plane and in-plane TC to 6.02 and 11.78 W/m K, respectively. Moreover, B/UF-PC exhibits flexible, lightweight (0.89 g/cm3), and significantly higher tensile strength (87.40 MPa) and energy absorption efficiency (98 %) than those of polymer composites, which allows it to be used in reliable electronic thermal management to prevent heat accumulation and external mechanical impact. This work provides a strategy for efficiently preparing flexible polymer composites with high TC and insulation properties.

Simultaneous Improvements in Energy Density and Thermal Conductivity of PAN Polymer Nanocomposites Enabled by Core-Shell Structure BZCT@BNNS Nanofibers

If the heat generated by electronic devices in high-power applications cannot be dissipated in a timely manner, it will not only affect the use of the equipment but also reduce its service life. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop thin films of dielectric nanocomposites with high thermal conductivity, high energy storage, and excellent flexibility and electrical insulation performance. In this study, we reported the successful preparation of BZCT nanofibers (BZCT NFs) and core-shell structures BZCT@BNNS nanofibers using electrospinning and coaxial electrospinning techniques, respectively, and there were used to composite with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer matrix to prepare BZCT NFs/PAN and BZCT@BNNS/PAN dielectric nanocomposites thin film. Research has found that when the shell thickness of BNNS is 15 nm and BZCT@BNNS (15 nm) volume fraction is 20 vol%, the comprehensive performance of the dielectric nanocomposites is the best, with thermal conductivity and energy storage performance of 3.36 W m-1K-1 and 12.23 J/cm3, respectively. Therefore, the nanocomposites thin film can be used as a potential high-performance dielectric material for thermal management applications in high-power density electronic devices.

Heat transfer augmentation in a heating surface covered by variable-shape or double-layer porous media subjected to water jet impingement

In this study, a cooling scheme for high-power and highly-integrated electronic devices is proposed in which the heating wall is covered with a variable-shape or double-layer porous medium. The porous media impacted by water jet impinging is covered over the heating surface, wherein heat from bottom wall to porous matrix is transmitted by thermal conduction and dissipated by convection generated by water jet impinging in porous layer. A combination of Brinkman–Darcy–Forchheimer model with energy equations in local thermal equilibrium is employed to describe the hydrothermal transport details in porous matrix, and the k-ε model is used to interpret water jet impinging. The impacts of porous shapes, porosity distributions, and thickness ratios among lower and upper layers with various porosities in gradient variation configuration on heat dissipation capacity are investigated numerically. The numerical calculations are well verified by published experiments. Results show that rectangular porous media covered heating surface is more sensitive to changes in jet velocity, while the mode with triangular porous media results in lower surface temperature and higher heat transfer coefficient at stagnation point. Besides, the rise ratio of heat transfer coefficient of porous configuration with gradient increase in porosity from 0.6 to 0.8 is 11.84% higher than that with gradient decrease in porosity from 0.9 to 0.6. Finally, the optimized shape, porosity arrangement and thickness ratio, jointly affect the heat transport. The results obtained can be used to generalize and apply the coupling of jet impingement with porous media above the heating surface to augment heat transfer.

Inhibiting Leidenfrost phenomenon with granulated polymer film

Inhibiting Leidenfrost phenomenon has been conventionally mediated by texturing materials to facilitate the solid-liquid contact or by arranging vapor channels to promote vapor evacuation. However, it remains challenging to break the trade-off between the high Leidenfrost point and the high heat transfer efficiency because elevating Leidenfrost point is often accompanied by the increase of thermal resistance. We propose a method using Rayleigh-Bénard-Marangoni convection and non-solvent induced phase separation to create granulated matrices that prevent the Leidenfrost effect at temperatures up to 400 °C. These matrices offer strong capillary adhesion, ensuring water droplets remain pinned and provide effective cooling. Additionally, the unique bubble dynamics prevent film boiling and Leidenfrost levitation. The matrices are mechanically robust and thermally stable, making them suitable for cooling high-power electronic devices at high temperatures. These results highlight the potential of using polymer matrices for cooling devices at elevated temperatures, potentially advancing cooling technologies.

Creep Deformation and Rupture Life Characteristics of High-Purity Aluminum for High-Power Electronic Devices

Creep Deformation and Rupture Life Characteristics of High-Purity Aluminum for High-Power Electronic Devices

Analysis of nanofluid and nano-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) in a heat exchanger for thermal management of electronic devices

Thermal management of high-power electronic devices is essential to control their enormous heat generation, which is usually the cause of their damage. Scientists have found several solutions for cooling electronic devices, but a counter-current heat exchanger has never been used. In the same context, numerical research on the thermal performance of a proposed new cooling system based on a counterflow heat exchanger combined with a heat sink is conducted in this article. Cu-H2O nanofluid, n-Docosane nano-enhanced phase change material, and water were selected as coolants, and they are compared in terms of temperatures, Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, friction factor, and performance enhancement coefficient using a two-phase mixture transient model based on Finite Volume method. Two cases of the proposed system are studied to find the optimal distance between heat exchanger pipes and the hot surface. Results are compared with previous experimental data to demonstrate that the system under study is accurate. They revealed that integrating the heat exchanger with the heat sink using Cu-H2O nf as a coolant maintained the hot surface temperature below 308 K with improved heat transfer by 31.22% compared to water. 0.25 mm is the optimum distance to find the highest thermal performance of the cooling system.

Vertical diamond Schottky barrier diodes with curved field plates

Diamond Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) could theoretically operate at high voltage, high temperature, and high frequency and be potentially used in power electronics. However, the device breaks down prematurely and cannot operate stably at high voltages due to the edge electric field crowding. In this work, a vertical diamond SBD with a curved field plate (CFP) was prepared using a chemical reflow method, inductively coupled plasma etching, and electron-beam evaporation. This structure alleviates the electric field crowding at the edge of the Schottky electrode and results in a breakdown voltage and current density of 380 V and over 3000 A/cm2, respectively. After repetitive measurements, we found that the device can repeatedly breakdown at around 380 V. These results indicate that CFP structure diamond SBDs have great application in high-voltage and high-power electronic devices.

Investigating the Corrosion Resistance of Different SiC Crystal Types: From Energy Sectors to Advanced Applications.

Silicon carbide, as a third-generation semiconductor material, plays a pivotal role in various advanced technological applications. Its exceptional stability under extreme conditions has garnered a significant amount of attention. These superior characteristics make silicon carbide an ideal candidate material for high-frequency, high-power electronic devices and applications in harsh environments. In particular, corrosion resistance in natural or artificially acidic and alkaline environments limits the practical application of many other materials. In fields such as chemical engineering, energy conversion, and environmental engineering, materials often face severe chemical erosion, necessitating materials with excellent chemical stability as foundational materials, carriers, or reaction media. Silicon carbide exhibits outstanding performance under these conditions, demonstrating significant resistance to corrosive substances such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and alkaline substances such as potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Despite the well-known chemical stability of silicon carbide, the stability conditions of its different types (such as 3C-, 4H-, and 6H-SiC polycrystals) in acidic and alkaline environments, as well as the specific corrosion mechanisms and differences, warrant further investigation. This Review not only delves deeply into the detailed studies related to this topic but also highlights the current applications of different silicon carbide polycrystals in chemical reaction systems, energy conversion equipment, and recycling processes. Through a comprehensive analysis, this Review aims to bridge research gaps, offering a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages between different polymorphs. It provides material scientists, engineers, and developers with a thorough understanding of silicon carbide's behavior in various chemical environments. This work will propel the research and development of silicon carbide materials under extreme conditions, especially in areas where chemical stability is crucial for device performance and durability. It lays a solid foundation for ultra-high-power, high-integration, high-reliability module architectures, supercomputing chips, and highly safe long-life batteries.

Random Vibration Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-Silver Solder Joint

Nano-silver is a very potential electronic interconnection material. It’s excellent physical and chemical properties, high thermal conductivity and good electrical conductivity make it very suitable for high power electronic devices. In practical engineering, 20% of the failure of electronic products is caused by vibration load, so it is necessary to study the vibration reliability of interconnected materials. In this paper, the modal and random vibration finite element analysis of nano-silver solder joints were analyzed with workbench software. Predicting random vibration fatigue life of nano-silver solder joint by Coffin-Manson high cycle fatigue empirical formula, Miner’s linear cumulative damage theory and Steinberg model. The random vibration fatigue life of the nanosilver solder joint is 8342 h. It is found that the vibration reliability of nano-silver is inferior to Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu and Sn63Pb37 and the diameter of solder joints and PCB thickness are proportional to the vibration fatigue life, and the PCB thickness has a greater effect on the vibration life than the solder joint diameter. Solder joint height and pad thickness are inversely proportional to vibration fatigue life, and pad thickness has little effect on vibration fatigue life.

Spherical Fe3O4 morphology modulation for enhancing infrared emissivity and radiant heat dissipation

Radiant heat dissipation has emerged as a critical technique for effective thermal management, offering energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and adaptability to various shapes while promoting environmental sustainability. However, the intricate relationship between material structures and emissivity remains inadequately understood. This study primarily utilizes a straightforward and economical solvothermal method to regulate the synthesis of Fe3O4 ferrite, exploring its structural relationship with infrared radiation performance. By adjusting the solvent ratio of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol in the solvothermal system, we successfully synthesized uniformly dispersed Fe3O4 nanospheres ranging from 10 to 800 nm. Notably, our research revealed a positive correlation between infrared emissivity and the particle size. Submicron hollow spheres with a size of 800 nm exhibit an exceptionally high emissivity of 0.992 within the 8–13 μm wavelength range. Morphological and size variations induced alterations in lattice strain, oxygen vacancies, and phonon lifetimes, which consequently influencing the lattice vibration absorption and infrared emissivity. Moreover, the device surface with a composite coating formed by combining 15 wt% Fe3O4 particles with organic matter, achieves a temperature difference of 17.6 °C under a 4 W input power condition compared to blank device. This finding contributes to further revealing the process of material radiative heat dissipation, driving the application of high-emissivity materials for heat dissipation in high-power electronic devices.

Interfacial Optimization for AlN/Diamond Heterostructures via Machine Learning Potential Molecular Dynamics Investigation of the Mechanical Properties.

AlN/diamond heterostructures hold tremendous promise for the development of next-generation high-power electronic devices due to their ultrawide band gaps and other exceptional properties. However, the poor adhesion at the AlN/diamond interface is a significant challenge that will lead to film delamination and device performance degradation. In this study, the uniaxial tensile failure of the AlN/diamond heterogeneous interfaces was investigated by molecular dynamics simulations based on a neuroevolutionary machine learning potential (NEP) model. The interatomic interactions can be successfully described by trained NEP, the reliability of which has been demonstrated by the prediction of the cleavage planes of AlN and diamond. It can be revealed that the annealing treatment can reduce the total potential energy by enhancing the binding of the C and N atoms at interfaces. The strain engineering of AlN also has an important impact on the mechanical properties of the interface. Furthermore, the influence of the surface roughness and interfacial nanostructures on the AlN/diamond heterostructures has been considered. It can be indicated that the combination of surface roughness reduction, AlN strain engineering, and annealing treatment can effectively result in superior and more stable interfacial mechanical properties, which can provide a promising solution to the optimization of mechanical properties, of ultrawide band gap semiconductor heterostructures.

Fabrication of High-Performance Insulated Metal Substrates Employing h-BN Mixture/Epoxy Composite Coated on Roughened Copper Plate

In this work, an Insulated Metal Substrate (IMS) for packaging high-power electronic devices was created using hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) mixture-based Thermally Conductive Adhesive (TCA) and copper plate with a matte side. Mechanical exfoliation of micron-scale BN particles results in a BN mixture containing h-BN nanosheets, micron particles, and nanoparticles. TCA was synthesized by dispersing a 40 % BN mixture modified by γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) into epoxy resin. The TCA has a relatively high thermal conductivity of 4.48 W·m-1·K-1 and a breakdown strength of 15.32 kV·mm-1. As the TCA film was coated on the matte side of the copper plate, the peel strength can reach 1.63 N·mm-1, indicating excellent practicality in the field of electronic packaging.

The internal modified layer structure of silicon carbide induced by ultrafast laser and its application in stealth dicing

Silicon carbide (SiC) is widely applied in high-power electronic devices due to its excellent properties. Stealth dicing (SD) as one of the dicing methods, exhibits the advantages of few thermal surface damage and low edge-chipping. In this study, we use an ultrafast laser to induce the modified layer structure inside the SiC wafers. The effects of laser processing parameters on the modified layers are studied. The formation mechanism of the modified layer and its influence on SD are analyzed. The result shows that the number of modified layer structures is mainly determined by the moving velocity. The different modified layer structures will affect the surface roughness of the SD cross-section and critical fracture load of the 4H–SiC wafers. Finally, we achieved the high-quality SD of SiC wafers, and a cross-section with the minimum surface roughness is approximately 381 nm.

Numerical investigation of jet impingement on flat/concave cooling of CO2 with different phase states under high heat flux

The thermal load and high temperature brought by the increase in power of electronic devices or the increase in speed of supersonic aircraft limit the respective development. In this paper, a numerical model of CO2 jet impingement cooling of a constant heat flux plate/concave surface in different phase states was established. Secondly, the non-equilibrium phase transition and the real-thermophysical properties of CO2 was considered. The effects of different wall heat flux (0.7 MW/m2 ∼ 6.5 MW/m2) and initial phase states on the impact cooling performance of CO2 jet were studied.It is found that for SCO2 jet impingement, when the inlet temperature is lower than the pseudo-critical temperature, the heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase of inlet pressure, and the maximum increase is 24.7 %. For near-critical liquid CO2 (LCO2) jet impingement, low latent heat prevents temperature overshoot in the heat flux range studied. With the increase of the proportion of dry ice in the inlet, the heat transfer coefficient also increases. When q > 3 MW/m2, the heat transfer coefficient of dry ice jet impact is 2.5 ∼ 3 times and 1 ∼ 1.4 times of that of SCO2 and near-critical LCO2 jet impingement for the flat plate model, respectively. For concave surface with high heat flux, near-critical LCO2 jet impingement cooling effect is relatively good. In addition, concave surface will aggravate the uneven cooling surface temperature.The results can provide more references for the CO2 jet impingement technology in the design of stagnation cooling system of supersonic aircraft and thermal management of high-power electronic devices.

Advancements and challenges in BaTiO3-Based materials for enhanced energy storage

Numerous researchers worldwide have been motivated to develop highly effective, environmentally acceptable green energy sources as a result of the recent sharp increase in energy use and the need for low emission levels. The energy generated from various renewable sources can be stored efficiently with a system that has a high energy density and high energy efficiency. Due to their enhanced dielectric, ferroelectric, and breakdown strength characteristics, BaTiO3 based dielectric/ferroelectric ceramic materials have received a lot of interest for energy storage applications in the past tw decades. In the present work, a thorough analysis of recent advancements in composites and single-phase BaTiO3 materials with enhanced energy storage performance. This review's main focus is on the crucial tactics and theoretical frameworks for improving the energy efficiency and recovered energy storage density of various BaTiO3-based materials. A thorough summary has been provided with the most recent developments in BaTiO3 based materials for multi-layered ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), pulse power capacitors, piezoelectric transducers, energy harvesting, electric vehicle batteries, and high-power electronic devices in order to confirm the commercial applications of BaTiO3 based single phase as well as multi-phase layered structures and composites.

Construction of 3D BN network with high-density thermal conductive paths

Efficient heat dissipation is essential to further improve the integration of high-power electronic packaging devices. Three-dimensional BN networks with high-density thermal conductive paths were designed as the heat transfer skeleton of thermal interface materials. 3D networks with high-density thermal conductive paths inlaid between oriented BN paths were constructed using precursor self-assembly and freeze-drying to improve the thermal conductivity of polymeric materials. The results show that high-density thermally conductive paths have stronger polymer-enhanced thermal conductivity than directional thermal paths and compared with pure TPU, the thermal conductivity of TPU/BN-2 under low BN filling content (10%wt) is increased by 250 % and 286.5 % in the through surface and flat surface respectively. This work provides new ideas for the preparation of polymer composites for thermal interface materials in electronic packaging and integrated circuits with excellent thermal management properties.

Superbiphilic hierarchical aluminum surfaces for exceptional pool boiling performance

The advancement in high-power electronic devices coupled with the need to ensure reliable and efficient heat dissipation of two-phase cooling systems underscores the urgent necessity for breakthroughs in enhancing boiling performance and especially critical heat flux (CHF) to minimize the risk of system failure. In this field, surfaces with tailored wettability have already demonstrated their potential to enhance boiling heat transfer intensity, while surfaces featuring wickable structures like micropillar arrays have shown significant improvements in CHF. In this study, we investigate the use of aluminium micropillar surfaces with tailored wettability to simultaneously enhance nucleate boiling heat transfer performance and specifically increase of the CHF. We fabricated the micropillar surfaces using a combination of nanosecond laser texturing and chemical etching in hydrochloric acid, while the wettability of selected surfaces was further tailored by application of a fluoroalkyl phosphonic acid and an additional laser texturing step. Three micropillar patterns were tested under pool boiling conditions using saturated twice-distilled water at atmospheric pressure. Importantly, our results revealed that the bottom part of the boiling interface (i.e., the superhydrophilic area) ensured increased liquid supply, while the top parts (i.e., the superhydrophobic area) tend to serve as nucleation sites. When combined, these two effects allowed us to simultaneously improve the CHF and the heat transfer coefficient, resulting in enhancements of up to 113% (2343 kW m−2) and 450% (205 kW m−2 K−1), respectively, compared to the benchmark untreated surface. This research provides a practical and reliable approach to enhancing heat transfer by fabricating hierarchical surfaces, offering potential applications in ultrahigh heat flux thermal technologies.