Thermal interface materials and cooling technologies in microelectronic packaging—A critical review

The ever increasing demand for fast computing has led to heterogeneous integration of packages as can be seen in the latest Xeon family segments in the market. Microprocessors are now adjacent to memory chips, transceivers, field-programmable gate arrays, and even other microprocessors within a single substrate. These complex designs have instigated an increase in cooling demand for microprocessors, and hence, there has been an increased focus within the semiconductor industry on developing advance thermal solutions. From the packaging level, thermal interface materials (TIMs) play a key role in thermally connecting various components within the package and helps reduce the thermal resistance between the die surfaces and integrated heat spreaders. From the system level, cooling technology is critical to attain the desired overall thermal dissipation and performance. In this review, progress made in the area of TIMs and system cooling solutions are presented. The focus is on the evolution of TIMs and cooling technologies and their challenges in the integrated circuit packaging. Merits and demerits of various TIM materials available in the commercial market are also discussed. The article will be concluded with some directions for the future that would be potentially very beneficial. Copyright © International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society