Aluminum nitride has become a material of great concern in the electronics field due to its outstanding thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient matching that of silicon. Aluminum nitride is a covalently bonded compound with a hexagonal zirconite-type structure. It has a series of excellent properties, including excellent thermal conductivity, reliable electrical insulation, low dielectric constant, dielectric loss, non-toxicity, and a thermal expansion coefficient matching silicon. It is not only an ideal material for the new generation of heat dissipation substrates and electronic device packaging. It can also be used in heat exchangers, piezoelectric ceramics and films, thermally conductive fillers, etc., with broad application prospects. The crystal structure of AlN determines its excellent thermal conductivity and insulation. According to research, due to the small atomic weight of the two elements that make up the AlN molecule, the crystal structure is relatively simple, the harmonicity is good, the Al-N bond formed is short, the bond energy is large, and the resonance of the covalent bond is conducive to the phonon heat transfer mechanism, which makes AlN material have thermal conductivity superior to general non-metallic materials. In addition, AlN has a high melting point, high hardness, high thermal conductivity, and good dielectric properties.
Crystal structure of aluminum nitride
Performance comparison between aluminum nitride and aluminum oxide
Compared with other ceramic materials, AlN has a thermal expansion coefficient that matches that of silicon, and its excellent thermal conductivity makes it more suitable for use in the electronics industry. According to research, AlN has attracted widespread attention because of its high matching degree of thermal expansion coefficient with Si, while traditional substrate materials such as Al2O3 can no longer meet actual needs due to its low thermal conductivity, which is about 1/5 of AlN ceramics substrate and its linear expansion coefficient does not match that of Si. The thermal conductivity of BeO and SiC ceramic substrates is also relatively high, but BeO is highly toxic and SiC has poor insulation. As a new type of high thermal conductivity ceramic material, AlN has the characteristics of a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of Si, excellent heat dissipation performance, and non-toxicity. It is expected to become an excellent material to replace BeO, SiC, and Al2O3 ceramic substrates for the electronics industry.
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