Effect of Remelting Duration on Microstructure and Properties of SiCp/Al Composite Fabricated by Powder-Thixoforming for Electronic Packaging

In this work, a novel processing method called powder thixoforming was proposed to prepare composites reinforced with 50 vol % of SiC particles (SiCp) that were used for electronic packaging in order to investigate the effects of remelting duration on its microstructure and properties. Optical Microscope (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) methods were applied for the material characterization and the corresponding physical and mechanical properties were examined in detail. The obtained results indicate that the remelting duration exerted a large effect on the microstructure as well as the SiCp/Al interfacial reaction. The density and hardness of the composite continuously increased with increasing remelting duration. The thermal conductivity (TC) and bending strength (BS) first increased during the initial 90 min and then decreased. The remelting duration exerted a limited influence on the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The optimal TC, BS, and hardness of these composites were up to 135.79 W/(m.K), 348.53 MPa, and 105.23 HV, respectively, and the CTE was less than 6.5 ppm/K after the composites were remelted at 600 degrees C for 90 min. The properties of the composites could thus be controlled to conform to the application requirements for electronic packaging materials.