I-Corps: Additive Laser Metal Deposition onto Silicon for Enhanced Electronics Cooling

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is a reduction of the microprocessor operating temperature and an increase in computer chip performance. The heat generated by electronic devices has been rising dramatically, posing a significant challenge to microprocessor performance. In particular, the thermal interface materials, the glue that thermally connects the electronic chip to the heat sink, is a bottleneck. The proposed additive manufacturing technology circumvents this bottleneck by directly printing the heat sink onto the chip. With this technology, thermal management components can be directly printed onto the electronic package without using traditional thermal interface materials. The proposed thermal solution will enable significant increases in heat flux, enabling faster and more efficient computation. This technology will enable the elimination of thermal interface materials and can potentially lead to cooler operating temperature and overall energy savings. This I-Corps project focuses on bonding metal onto silicon for electronic cooling by laser processing. Many important applications require bonding of dissimilar materials, yet there are relatively limited studies of additive manufacturing onto dissimilar substrates. Laser-based additive manufacturing of heat removal device enables the rapid formation of silicides at the silicon-metal interface and the manufacture of small features onto silicon. This research builds on conventional low-temperature bonding of metal alloys onto semiconductor and ceramic substrates by using reactive elements, and overcomes the timescale limitations observed in conventional brazing. Silicide formation during selective laser melting occurs several orders of magnitude faster than conventional bonding techniques. The material also melts at a low temperature, which minimizes the thermal stress after solidification. By employing selective laser melting, a low-temperature alloy can rapidly bond onto silicon to form heat removal devices with robust mechanical properties and low thermal resistance. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.