Micro-machined heat pipes in silicon MCM substrates

Multichip modules (MCMs) containing power components need a substrate with excellent heat spreading capability both to avoid hot spots and to move dissipated heat toward the system heat sinks. Polycrystalline diamond is an excellent MCM heat spreading substrate but remains several orders of magnitude too expensive and somewhat more difficult to process than conventional mother-board materials. Today's power MCMs concentrate on moderately priced silicon wafers and aluminum nitride ceramic with their improved thermal conductivity and good thermal expansion match to power semiconductor components in comparison to traditional alumina and printed wiring board materials. However even silicon and AIN substrates are challenged by designers' thermal needs. We report on the fabrication of micro-heat pipes embedded in silicon MCM substrates (5/spl times/5 cm) by the use of micromachined capillary wick structures and hermetic micro-cavities. This passive microstructure results in more than a 5 times improvement in heat spreading capability of the silicon MCM substrate over a large range of power densities and operating temperatures. Thus diamond-like cooling is possible at silicon prices.