Senaste framstegen inom diamantvärmefördissionsforskning

Against the backdrop of continuous evolution in high-performance computing, high-power communication devices, and 3D packaging, thermal management has become a core technological bottleneck that limits further acceleration of chips. Especially the high thermal flux density brought by third-generation semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) under high-frequency and high-power conditions har gjort traditionella kiselbaserade värmespridningslösningar gradvis ohållbara .

 

As the material with the highest thermal conductivity, diamond has demonstrated excellent heat dissipation capabilities in theory and experiments, and its potential value in areas such as heat dissipation substrates, heat sinks, and on-chip integration is rapidly gaining industry reevaluation. However, the unresolved issues of stress control and process adaptation at the material level have always hindered its industrialization pace.

Nyligen förberedde Jiangnan Research-teamet från Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences framgångsrikt en stor storlek 4- Inch Ultra-Thin, Ultra-Low Warpage Diamond Self-Supporting Film, som ger ett viktigt genombrott för tekniken att gå mot praktiska förpackningsapplikationer .}}

 

Den nuvarande tillämpningen av diamant inom värmehantering fokuserar huvudsakligen på två tekniska vägar: en är att använda diamant som ett substrat, i kombination med kisel, GaN eller SIC -material för att förbättra den totala enhetens värmesprestation; The second method is to prepare diamond heat sinks or films through CVD, achieving direct contact heat dissipation for chip heat sources. However, regardless of the form, it faces the structural challenge of "excessive warpage after substrate removal". Especially in cases where the film thickness is less than 100 μ m and the size is greater than 2 inches, factors such as internal stress accumulation and uneven interface growth can cause significant deformation, which cannot meet the hot press packaging standards of the bonding process. This bottleneck has long constrained the large-scale promotion of diamond materials in chip direct bonding heat dissipation applications. Although their heat dissipation performance is far superior to traditional materials such as copper and aluminum nitride, they are difficult to obtain industrial mass adoption.

 

Researchers have successfully reduced the stress and warpage of diamond self-supporting thin films without sacrificing film quality by optimizing the vapor deposition process, improving the substrate removal and heat treatment process. The 4-inch diamond film prepared by the team has a thickness of less than 100 μ m, a warpage controlled within 10 μ m, and can firmly adhere to glass substrates under no external force conditions, possessing self adsorption ability. This performance not only meets the warpage requirements of chip heat sink bonding, but also provides the possibility for incorporating diamond films into advanced packaging processes such as heterogeneous integration and 3D stacking. This technological breakthrough has profound significance in the industrial chain. The industrial chain of diamond thermal management materials can be roughly divided into four links: material synthesis, morphology control and crystal orientation, structural processing and precision cutting, and integration with chips or packaging structures. Among them, in the first stage, China's industry has basically formed local supporting facilities from high-purity gas sources (such as methane and hydrogen) to reaction equipment (CVD systems), and some enterprises have achieved commercial growth of large-area diamond filmer; Det andra steget är att uppnå kärnan i filmkvalitet och stresskontroll, där prestationerna vid Ningbo Materials Institute fyller det viktigaste tekniska gapet; De senare två - precisionsbearbetnings- och förpackningsintegrationen - besattes fortfarande av några utländska företag med fullständiga processkapaciteter och blir nyckelpunkter för inhemska material för att komma in i det industriella slutet .

 

Speciellt inom området chipförpackning, direkt bindande diamantfilmer till ytan av kraftenhetsflisar (såsom GaN -kraftförstärkare) kan avsevärt minska gränssnittet termiskt motstånd och stabilisera chipkorsningstemperatur, därmed förlänga livslängden och förbättra frekvensstabiliteten . i det förflutna, på grund av den höga ytan och kriget av diamant och förbättring av frekvensstabilitet . I det förflutna, på grund av den höga ytan. achieve indirect heat dissipation, but this greatly sacrificed the excellent thermal conductivity of diamond. Therefore, achieving a self-supporting structure with low surface stress and high flatness is a prerequisite for achieving direct thermal coupling between chips and diamonds. If this process can be standardized, it will become the starting point for thermal management solutions to transition from experimental verification to wafer level Förpackningssystem .

 

From the perspective of downstream industries, the main applications of diamond thermal management materials are focused on high-frequency communication (such as 5G base stations, millimeter wave radar), high-power electronics (new energy vehicle inverters, industrial power modules), and high-end computing (data center AI chips). Especially in AI server GPUs with chip thermal design power (TDP) exceeding 400W, the traditional air cooling system's heat dissipation efficiency tends to reach its limit, with over 40% of the system's power consumption used for thermal management, becoming an important nonlinear factor limiting further increases in computing power. Diamond heat dissipation materials, due to their high thermal conductivity and electrical insulation properties, are expected to be directly encapsulated in the heat source area of ​​chips, replacing traditional graphite copper composite Strukturer . I denna riktning har internationella företag som Coherent och Element Six successivt släppt diamantkylflänsprodukter, inriktat på avancerade chiptillverkare som NVIDIA och AMD, medan Kina fortfarande är i stadiet av tekniska prover och riktade tillämpningar inom vissa militära områden .}

 

From the perspective of industry development trends, diamond heat dissipation materials are entering a stage of transformation from "laboratory performance" to "engineering technology". The factors that constrain its scale application are no longer focused on thermal conductivity itself, but have shifted towards manufacturing process issues such as thermal expansion matching, interface bonding stability, and mechanical processing adaptability. Therefore, whoever can first break through the industrial closed loop of "materials devices packaging" can gain a first mover advantage in the diamond thermal management track. Currently, research institutions including China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) 38, Nanchang University, and Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials are promoting the self-supporting diamond film process route. At the same time, several semiconductor equipment companies have also begun to explore the development of Laserskärning och ultraljudslipningsutrustning som är lämplig för bearbetning av diamantark .

 

In short, this technological breakthrough not only fills the gap in the field of key thermal management materials in China, but also provides a technical support point for the core material layer of China's high-performance chip heat dissipation industry chain. The transition of diamond materials from the theoretical value of "ultra-high thermal conductivity" to the practical process of "mass production, packaging, and bonding" is becoming the focus of competition in the new generation av ChIP Thermal Management Technology . I framtiden kommer kontinuerlig iteration kring standardiserade gränssnitt, processtillförlitlighet och förpackningskompatibilitet att avgöra nyckelvägen för diamant att verkligen flytta från ett "stjärnmaterial" till ett "industriellt material" .}