ARTICLE:

• IMPACT OF CVD DIAMOND LAYERS ON THE THERMAL ENGINEERING OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS  download article

K. E. Goodson
Thermosciences Division, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford UniversityBldg. 530, 440 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-3030, USA

ABSTRACT

Chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond is an excellent thermal conductor and an electrical insulator at room temperature, making it ideal for passive applications in electronic systems. This review describes these applications and identifies related tasks for thermal-engineering research. Diamond plates thicker than 100 μm improve thermal conduction in the macroscopic packaging of high-power silicon and gallium-arsenide semiconductor devices (e.g., microwave-frequency transistors). Diamond films of thickness less than 10 μm are deposited in electronic microstructures and improve thermal conduction within micrometers of active semiconducting regions. The use of diamond plates and films is particularly helpful for reducing the temperature rise due to brief pulses of heat generation, which are a barrier to the miniaturization of many high-power semiconductor devices. Future research for passive applications must minimize the thermal resistance for conduction normal to the boundaries between the diamond and the active regions where heat is generated. This review also discusses thermal-engineering problems related to the use of CVD diamond as an active semiconductor in high-power transistors and high-temperature sensors, showing that there is a need for research on the impact of doping on thermal conduction in this material.

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323-353 pages

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