Summary:
UCLA researchers in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering have developed a novel boron arsenide (BAs) material that has an ultra-high thermal conductivity of 1300 W/mK and low cost of synthesis and processing.
Background:
Thermal management in electronics is one of the industry’s major technical challenges. As the temperature of electronic devices increase, their performance is impaired significantly. Heat-management materials currently in use have limited thermal conductivity, e.g. 35 W/mK for aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and 300 W/mK for silicon carbide (SiC). Diamond is considered the best thermal conductor (κ~2000 W/mK) but is cost-prohibitive for widespread use. There is an urgent need for materials with ultrahigh thermal conductivity (over 1000 W/mK) but with low cost for efficient heat management
Innovation:
UCLA researchers in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering have developed a novel boron arsenide (BAs) material with ultrahigh thermal conductivity. BAs crystal of high quality was measured to have a thermal conductivity of 1300 W/mK, 2 times higher than boron nitride and 10 times higher than silicon, making BAs the best thermal conductor among any bulk semiconducting or metal material. Moreover, the low cost of material synthesis and processing makes BAs ideal for heat management in electronics and photonics devices.
Potential Applications:
- Electronics
- Photonics
- Optoelectronics
- Acoustic devices
Advantages:
- High quality crystals
- Ultrahigh thermal conductivity
- Low synthesis cost
- Low processing cost
Patent Application:
High thermal conductivity boron arsenide for thermal management, electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics applications
Related Materials:
Status of Development:
Material performance demonstrated in the lab.