Thermal conductivity, elastic modulus, and coefficient of thermal expansion of polymer composites filled with ceramic particles for electronic packaging

The effective thermal conductivity, elastic modulus, and coefficient of the rmal expansion of epoxy resins filled with ceramic fillers like silica, alu mina, and aluminum nitride were determined. The data obtained was compared with theoretical and semitheoretical equations in the literature that are u sed to predict the properties of two phase mixtures. It was found that Agar i's model provided a good estimate of the composite thermal conductivity. T he Hashin-Shtrikman lower bound for composite modulus fits the modulus data fairly well at low concentrations of the filler. Also, it was found that t he coefficients of thermal expansion of the filled composites lie in betwee n Schapery's upper and lower bounds. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.