A new technical paper, “Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Long Al2O3 Nanowires for Enhanced Thermal Management in Advanced Semiconductor Packaging,” was published by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and National Cheng Kung University.
Abstract
“The rapid increase in heat flux in advanced 2.5D/3D semiconductor packaging places stringent demands on thermal interface materials (TIMs), particularly for efficient heat dissipation and thermomechanical reliability. Epoxy-based TIMs offer favorable adhesion and process compatibility but suffer from intrinsically low thermal conductivity, while conventional ceramic fillers require high loadings to achieve thermal percolation, compromising processability. Here, we report epoxy composite TIMs enabled by ultralong Al2O3 nanowires (ULANWs) with millimeter-scale lengths, nanoscale diameters (100–1000 nm), and an extraordinary aspect ratio (∼1000). A scalable fabrication strategy is employed to produce ULANWs, which are incorporated into epoxy matrixes as either randomly dispersed networks or hierarchically structured vertically oriented sheets. The nanoscale diameter and hierarchical nanowire architecture synergistically reduce the junction density, enabling continuity-dominated phonon transport. The interconnected ULANW architecture reduces the interfacial thermal resistance and lowers the thermal percolation threshold. At a filler loading of 28 wt %, the vertically structured composite achieves an out-of-plane thermal conductivity of 0.78 W/(m K), representing a 72.1% enhancement over Al2O3 particle-filled composites and a 452.6% improvement over neat epoxy. Concurrently, the ULANW network suppresses thermal expansion and enhances the stiffness. Thermal testing and finite element simulations confirmed substantially reduced junction temperatures, demonstrating the potential of this architecture for next-generation TIMs in advanced electronic packaging.”
Find the technical paper here. March 2026.
Zihao Lin, Sung-Ting Chen, Kyoung-Sik Moon, Wen-Hsi Lee, and Ching-Ping Wong
ACS Applied Nano Materials 2026 9 (14), 6266-6277
DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.6c00305
Leave a Reply