Diamond reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites (diamond/SiC) with high thermal conductivity were prepared by tape casting combined with Si vapor infiltration for thermal management application. The effects of the mixing mode of bimodal diamond particles on the microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of the composites were analyzed. The results reveal that the thermal conductivity of composites is affected significantly by mixing mode of diamond. In general, when the content of large diamond remains constant, adding a slight amount of small diamond was found to be effective in improving the thermal conductivity of the composite. However, excess small diamonds added will decrease thermal conductivity due to its high interfacial thermal resistance. The maximum thermal conductivity of obtained diamond/SiC is 469 W/(m K) when 38 vol% large diamond and 4 vol% small diamond were added. Such a result can be attributed to the formation of efficient heat transfer channels within the composite and sound interfacial bonding between diamond and SiC phase. Diamond/SiC with high thermal conductivity are expected to be the next generation of electronic packaging substrate.
The bi-materials with Al-Mg alloy and its composites reinforced with SiC and particles were prepared by conventional powder metallurgy method. The A1-5 wt%Mg and composite mixtures were compacted under , and then the mixtures compacted under 400 MPa were sintered at for 5h. The obtained bi-materials with Al-Mg/SiCp composite showed the higher relative density than those with composite after compaction and sintering. Based on the results, the bi-materials compacted under 400 MPa and sintered at 873K for 5h were used for mechanical tests. In the composite side of bi-materials, the SiC particles were densely distributed compared to the particles. The bi-materials with Al-Mg/SiC composite showed the higher micro-hardness than those with composite. The mechanical properties were evaluated by the compressive test. The bi-materials revealed almost the same value of 0.2% proof stress with Al-Mg alloy. Their compressive strength was lower than that of Al-Mg alloy. Moreover, impact absorbed energy of bi-materials was smaller than that of composite. However, the bi-materials with Al-Mg/SiCp composite particularly showed almost similar impact absorbed energy to composite. From the observation of microstructure, it was deduced that the bi-materials was preferentially fractured through micro-interface between matrix and composite in the vicinity of macro-interface.