Sintered Conductive Adhesives for use in Active Radar System Thermal Management Navy SBIR FY2004.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2004.2 Topic No.: N04-163 Topic Title: Sintered Conductive Adhesives for use in Active Radar System Thermal Management Proposal No.: N042-163-0 Firm: Aguila Technologies, Inc. 310 Via Vera Cruz, Suite 107 San Marcos, California 92078 Contact: Alan Grieve Phone: (760) 752-4359 Web Site: www.aguilatech.com Abstract: Current Naval microwave power amplifiers operate at power densities around 200-500 W/cm2. Amplifiers under development may operate at 2-4 times this power density. Despite the development of active cooling technologies, the principal technology for removing heat from a chip remains thermal conduction. In most power devices, solders, such as AuSn, are used for die attach bonding. Solder is not adaptable to high volume, low cost processing. There is a critical need from T/R module developers for improvement in the performance of thermally conductive polymeric materials used in electronic packaging. There are few candidate polymeric materials for replacing eutectic solder bonding in electronic devices used in high-temperature environments. Most polymeric electrically conductive adhesives are not capable of long term reliability in such environments. We have demonstrated a low-temperature sintering adhesive that, with modification, will address these performance issues. Based on a novel polymeric resin formulation, they are solvent-free and easily processed. A unique combination of alloy powders in this resin formulation allows the preparation of composite adhesives capable of forming metallurgical connections to suitable metal surfaces. These may be optimized to have electrical and thermal conductivity properties similar to solder materials but with the processing advantages of polymeric adhesives. Benefits: There is an immediate need for adhesive materials with improved high temperature performance in a myriad of high volume consumer and defense products, particularly those materials that have improved thermal and/or electrical properties. The market today exceeds over $100 Million annually. This demand is increasing with the development of advanced high power electronics systems used for the processing and control of high-energy electrical systems. Return