Profiling the thermal properties of Cu-Ag/CF composites by using JMP Pro

• Main Authors: Kamardin, A., Derman, M. N. B., Rahmat, A., Muhamad, W. Z. A. W.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adequacy; Carbon fiber reinforced plastics; Carbon fibers; Composite materials; Construction standards; Copper; Design standards; Electroless coating; Electronic packaging; Error analysis; Factorial design; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Low level; Powder metallurgy; Silver; Thermal conductivity; Thermal expansion; Thermodynamic properties; Variance analysis
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5054201

New copper matrix reinforced silver coated carbon fiber (Cu-Ag/CF) composites were developed in an attempt to meet the critical design requirements of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) for the power electronic packaging materials. The composites were fabricated by using a conventional powder metallurgy method. The electroless coating processes were utilized to coat the carbon fibers with silver and copper layers. JMP Pro software was used in designing the experiments to profile the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and thermal conductivity (TC) of the composites. A full factorial design with a standard least squares model was used to construct linear models to estimate the magnitude of effect for each evaluated factor and their interactions. The model adequacy was checked through the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The assumption of constant variance was verified by examining the residuals (error) distribution. Based on the analysis reports, the thermal properties of the composites were significantly influenced by silver content (wt.% Ag) and the percent-volume of the carbon fiber (vol.% CF). Incorporating the highest levels of wt.% Ag and vol.% CF into the composite would yield the most desirable CTE value. However, predicted profiler of the thermal conductivity showed the opposite trend. The desirable thermal conductivity was achieved when both factors at their low levels. A significant interaction between both factors were also observed in the thermal conductivity profile. At low vol.% CF, the thermal conductivity was at its maximum when wt.% Ag was set at its low level. But at high vol.% CF, the thermal conductivity was at its maximum when wt.% Ag was set at the high level. Due to the conflicted findings, a resolution was made based on the CTE-TC trade off.