TEKNIK ELEKTRONIKA

Solder pads in IC packages could soon be made obsolete by a new nanotape material developed by researchers at the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and Stanford University. Using a sandwich of thermally conductive carbon nanotubes between thin metal foils, the nanotape transfers heat away from chips better than solder, and according to the researchers it is a lightweight, flexible material that is cheaper and more compliant.

Externally, a nanotape pad looks like a conventional solder pad because both the top and bottom are metallic, but internally it harbours the superior thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes, with heat transfer characteristics similar to those of copper.

 

Professor Ken Goodson, lead researcher for SRC at Stanford University, said that solder joints are usually made very thick to provide mechanical compliance, but the new nanotape allows solder pads to be replaced by a thin, lightweight material that improves thermal energy management. The tape has a core composed of a vertically aligned carbon nanotube forest, with carefully chosen alloys on the top and bottom that wet the carbon nanotubes and provide thermal contact with the heat sink and the chip.

Initially the material will be fabricated as a direct replacement for solder pads, according to SRC, but its foam-like flexible compliance, which allows it expand and contract together with semiconductor materials in a manner impossible with solder, could form the basis for entirely new semiconductor packaging methods. The researchers predict that early adopters will begin using the nanotape by the end of next year, with mainstream benefits to end users starting around 2014. The SRC-funded nanotape material will be made available to all SRC members.

 

Image: SRC

More info

SRC website



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