Abstract
Performance of thermal interface materials (TIMs), such as thermal pastes and mats, hinders the advance of integrated circuit (IC) devices. Current state-of-the-art TIMs suffer from low thermal conductivity, thick cross sections, and poor long-term performance. Gallium (Ga) and gallium-based alloys and amalgamations, in liquid and solid form, have demonstrated up to three times greater thermal conductivity than conventional TIMs, but rapidly alloy with and destroy aluminum (Al) components, which are commonly found in IC devices. In this work, we investigate the use of thin-film barrier layers on Al to prevent Ga alloying and characterize their performance through accelerated Ga exposure experiments and scanning electron microscopy. It is found that 100-nm-thick layers of the common passivation materials niobium and 304 stainless steel do not sufficiently prohibit Ga migration, but a 100 nm layer of titanium (Ti) does. No alloying is evident in Ti-coated Al samples after exposure to a liquid Ga alloy droplet at 300 °C for 168 h, 250 thermal cycles from room temperature to 150 °C with 30-min dwell, or 50 thermal cycles from room temperature to 300 °C with 2-min dwell. The results present a clear and direct path to the use of Ga and Ga alloys as TIMs through the addition of a thin inexpensive barrier layer on Al components and may enable future IC device technologies.
Abbreviations
- TIMs:
-
Thermal interface materials
- IC:
-
Integrated circuit
- Ga:
-
Gallium
- Al:
-
Aluminum
- Ti:
-
Titanium
- Nb:
-
Niobium
- PVD:
-
Physical vapor deposition
- 304SS:
-
304 stainless steel
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- EDS:
-
Energy-dispersive spectroscopy
- CPU:
-
Central processing unit
References
R. Prasher, Thermal Interface Materials: Historical Perspective, Status, and Future Directions, Proc. IEEE, 2006, 94(8), p 1571–1586
F. Sarvar, D.C. Whalley, and P.P. Conway, Thermal Interface Materials—A Review of the State of the Art, in 2006 1st Electronic Systemintegration Technology Conference, vol. 2 (IEEE, 2006), pp. 1292–1302
S. Kalpakjian, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, Pearson Education India, Bengaluru, 2001
J. Due and A.J. Robinson, Reliability of Thermal Interface Materials: A Review, Appl. Therm. Eng., 2013, 50(1), p 455–463
C.I. Chen, C.Y. Ni, H.Y. Pan, C.M. Chang, and D.S. Liu, Practical Evaluation for Long-Term Stability of Thermal Interface Material, Exp. Tech., 2009, 33(1), p 28–32
D.T. Clark, E.P. Ramsay, A.E. Murphy, D.A. Smith, R. Thompson, R.A.R. Young, J.D. Cormack, C. Zhu, S. Finney, and J. Fletcher, High Temperature Silicon Carbide CMOS Integrated Circuits, in Materials Science Forum, vol. 679 (Trans Tech Publications Ltd, 2011), pp. 726–729
S. Stagon, A. Knapp, P. Elliott, and H. Huang, Metallic Glue for Ambient Environments Making Strides, Adv. Mater. Process., 2016, 174(1), p 22–25
T. Liu, P. Sen, and C.-J. Kim, Characterization of Nontoxic Liquid-Metal Alloy Galinstan for Applications in Microdevices, J. Microelectromech. Syst., 2011, 21(2), p 443–450
J. Liu, M.O. Olorunyomi, X. Lu, W.X. Wang, T. Aronsson, and D. Shangguan, New Nano-thermal Interface Material for Heat Removal in Electronics Packaging, in 2006 1st Electronic Systemintegration Technology Conference, vol. 1 (IEEE, 2006), pp. 1–6
A. Bar-Cohen, K. Matin, and S. Narumanchi, Nanothermal Interface Materials: Technology Review and Recent Results. J. Electron. Packag. 2015, 137(4), p 040803-1–040803-17
J. Froemel, M. Baum, M. Wiemer, F. Roscher, M. Haubold, C. Jia, and T. Gessner, Investigations of Thermocompression Bonding with Thin Metal Layers, In 2011 16th International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (IEEE, 2011), pp. 990–993
S.-M. Lee, S.-M. Sim, Y.-W. Chung, Y.-K. Jang, and H.-K. Cho, Fracture Strength Measurement of Silicon Chips, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 1997, 36(6R), p 3374
Y. Gao and J. Liu, Gallium-Based Thermal Interface Material with High Compliance and Wettability, Appl. Phys. A, 2012, 107(3), p 701–708
L.J. Briggs, Gallium: Thermal Conductivity; Supercooling; Negative Pressure, J. Chem. Phys., 1957, 26(4), p 784–786
V.V. VyY Prokhorenko, M.A.Pokrasin Roshchupkin, S.V. Prokhorenko, and V.V. Kotov, Liquid Gallium: Potential Uses as a Heat-Transfer Agent, High Temp., 2000, 38(6), p 954–968
Y. Gao, X. Wang, J. Liu, and Q. Fang, Investigation on the Optimized Binary and Ternary Gallium Alloy as Thermal Interface Materials. J. Electron. Packag. 2017, 139(1), p 011002-1–011002-8
C.K. Roy, S. Bhavnani, M.C. Hamilton, R. Wayne Johnson, J.L. Nguyen, R.W. Knight, and D.K. Harris, Investigation into the Application of Low Melting Temperature Alloys as Wet Thermal Interface Materials, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 2015, 85, p 996–1002
Y.-G. Deng and J. Liu, Corrosion Development Between Liquid Gallium and Four Typical Metal Substrates Used in Chip Cooling Device, Appl. Phys. A, 2009, 95(3), p 907–915
M. Rajagopalan, M.A. Bhatia, M.A. Tschopp, D.J. Srolovitz, and K.N. Solanki, Atomic-Scale Analysis of Liquid-Gallium Embrittlement of Aluminum Grain Boundaries, Acta Mater., 2014, 73, p 312–325
J.W. Diggle, T.C. Downie, and C.W. Goulding, Anodic Oxide Films on Aluminum, Chem. Rev., 1969, 69(3), p 365–405
M. Wittmer, Barrier Layers: Principles and Applications in Microelectronics, J. Vacuum Sci. Technol. A Vacuum Surf. Films, 1984, 2(2), p 273–280
C.Y. Ting and M. Wittmer, The Use of Titanium-Based Contact Barrier Layers in Silicon Technology, Thin Solid Films, 1982, 96(4), p 327–345
S.-Y. Jang, S.-m. Lee, and H.-K. Baik, Tantalum and Niobium as a Diffusion Barrier Between Copper and Silicon, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 1996, 7(4), p 271–278
D.R. Askeland, The Science and Engineering of Materials, Springer, Dordrecht, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1842-9
R.N. Wenzel, Resistance of Solid Surfaces to Wetting by Water, Ind. Eng. Chem., 1936, 28(8), p 988–994
Y.Y. Yan, N. Gao, and W. Barthlott, Mimicking Natural Superhydrophobic Surfaces and Grasping the Wetting Process: A Review on Recent Progress in Preparing Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2011, 169(2), p 80–105
A.B.D. Cassie and S. Baxter, Wettability of Porous Surfaces, Trans. Faraday Soc., 1944, 40, p 546–551
V.A. Matveev, N.K. Pleshanov, A.P. Bulkin, and V.G. Syromyatnikov, The Study of the Oxidation of Thin Ti Films by Neutron Reflectometry, J. Phys. Conf. Ser., 2012, 340(1), p 012086
Acknowledgments
All authors acknowledge the support and expertise of UNF Material Science and Engineering Research Center and thank Dr. Paul Eason and Dr. Albina Mikhaylova for discussion and characterization guidance. SS also acknowledges the support of the UNF Presidential Faculty Leader Award.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
SS, GB, and JN collaborated to develop the concept and experimental protocol. SS and NB did the experiments and characterization. All authors contributed to the analysis of characterization results. All authors participated in the preparation of the manuscript. Funding Sources
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stagon, S., Blaser, N., Bevill, G. et al. Nanoscale Barrier Layers to Enable the Use of Gallium-Based Thermal Interface Materials with Aluminum. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 29, 5132–5138 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-05007-1
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-05007-1