Fabrication, microstructure and properties of SiCp/Cu heat sink materials

Cu-coated powder was fabricated by electroless plating process, and the composition and morphology of coated powder were studied. Moreover, Cu-30, 40, 50 vol.% SiCp heat sink materials were fabricated by hot pressing using coated and uncoated powder. And the microstructure and thermophysical properties of the heat sink materials were also studied. The results show that SiCp particles distribute uniformly in heat sink materials and the interface between SiCp particles and Cu matrix is clear and well bonded. On the condition of same volume fraction of SiCp, the thermal conductivity of the material using coated powder is larger than that of the material using uncoated powder. Under experiment conditions, the thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion of Cu-30 vol.% SiCp heat sink material is 236.2 W.m−1.K−1 and 9.9 × 10−6/K (30-200 °C) respectively. It provides important reference data for future experiments.