For microelectronic circuits, the main type of failure is thermal fatigue. Therefore, the search for matched coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of packaging materials in combination with a high thermal conductivity is the main task for developments of heat sink materials electronics, and good mechanical properties are also required. The aim of this work is to develop copper matrix composites reinforced with carbon nanofibers to meet these requirements. In this paper, a technology for obtaining a homogeneous mixture of copper and nanofibers will be presented and the microstructure and properties of consolidated samples will be discussed.

Elemental powders are used in high energy milling processes for the synthesis of new compounds. The low temperature solid state reactions during milling in inert gas atmosphere may result in intermetallic phases, carbides, nitrides or silicides with a nanocrystalline structure. To obtain dense materials from the powders a pressure assisted densification is necessary. On the other side the defect-rich microstructure can be used for activated sintering of elemental powder mixtures to obtain dense bodies by pressureless sintering. Results are discussed for nanocrystalline cermet systems and for the sintering of aluminides and silicides