Regulated Interfacial Thermal Conductance between Cu and Diamond by a TiC Interlayer for Thermal Management Applications
At a Glance
Section titled āAt a Glanceā| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2019-07-08 |
| Journal | ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces |
| Authors | Guo Chang, Fangyuan Sun, LĆ¼hua Wang, Zhanxun Che, Xitao Wang |
| Institutions | Qilu University of Technology, Key Laboratory for High Strength Lightweight Metallic Materials of Shandong Province |
| Citations | 72 |
Abstract
Section titled āAbstractāThe metal/diamond interface consisting of two highly dissimilar materials is widely present in high-power microelectronic devices using a diamond film as a heat spreader or using a metal matrix/diamond filler composite as a heat sink for thermal management applications. To improve the interfacial thermal conductance (<i>G</i>), a common method is to add an appropriate interlayer in between the two materials; however, the effect of the interlayer on <i>G</i> is still not clear. In this work, we prepare a Cu/TiC/diamond structure by magnetron sputtering to detect how the crystallinity, grain size, and thickness of the TiC interlayer influence <i>G</i> between Cu and diamond. We characterize in detail the interface by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and measure experimentally <i>G</i> by the time-domain thermoreflectance technique. The results indicate that the higher crystallinity and thinner interlayer are both beneficial to the improvement of <i>G</i> between Cu and diamond, but the <i>G</i> is insensitive to the grain size of TiC. An increase of <i>G</i> between Cu and diamond as much as 48% can be reached by a highly crystallized 10 nm thick TiC interlayer. The microscopic characteristics of the TiC interlayer have played a decisive role for <i>G</i> between Cu and diamond. While an inserted interlayer in principle has a potential to enhance <i>G</i> between two dissimilar materials, the low crystallinity and large thickness of the interlayer will weaken the enhancement or even reverse this positive effect. The <i>G</i> of a sandwiched structure can be regulated in a wide range by the microscopic characteristics of the interlayer, which provides guidelines for preparation of metal/nonmetal interfaces with high interfacial thermal conductance for thermal management applications.