Thermal conductivity of bulk nanocrystalline nickel-diamond composites produced by electrodeposition.

Previous research has shown that electrodeposited metal-diamond composite materials exhibit excellent mechanical properties, but their potential applications for thermal management in electronic devices have not been addressed. In contrast to common high temperature-high pressure (HTHP) methods, electrodeposition could offer a more economically viable route for making metal-diamond heat sink materials. In this study, nanocrystalline nickel-diamond composite materials were produced by electrodepositon. Using them as a prototype, the feasibility of using electrodeposited metal-diamond composite materials for heat sink applications was examined. The maximum thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline nickel-diamond composite was 200 W/mK at 61 vol% diamond, which is 2.6 times higher than 77 W/mK for pure nanocrystalline nickel. In addition, the thermal boundary conductance in the composite materials produced by electrodeposition was comparable to that previously reported for copper-diamond composite materials produced by the HTHP method. These results are a promising sign for producing electrodeposited metal-diamond composite materials with thermal conductivities high enough for heat management applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]