Methods to Fabricate Densified Carbon Nanotube Thin Films and Structures

Background Individual carbon nanotubes have already exhibited excellent properties such as high electrical conductivity, high Young's modulus and a high thermal conductivity. However, for practical applications, dense bundles of carbon nanotubes must be used. Vertically aligned dense carbon nanotube films by CVD have already been demonstrated and can provide a good template. However, due to their low film density, strength, and electrical conductivity, vertically aligned dense carbon nanotube films have not been successfully integrated into microelectronic devices.

Currently, carbon nanotube applications are based on carbon nanotube membranes or carbon nanotube composites. To utilize these membranes or composites, tedious processes such as filtration, purification, and dispersion are involved, which are not compatible with current silicon technologies. In addition, these membranes or composites usually lack anisotropic properties originating from carbon nanotube structures.

Invention Description - Methods to fabricate densified carbon nanotube thin films and structures - Methods to fabricate densified vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin film sensors - Methods to integrate vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin films in interconnects and packaging - Methods to fabricate densified vertically aligned carbon nanotube transparent conducting films - Methods to fabricate densified vertically aligned carbon nanotube structures for thermal dissipation in packaging

Benefits

Greatly improved mechanical, electrical and/or thermal properties of as-grown vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin films Maintains structure and anisotropic properties of as-grown vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin films Can be integrated into various microelectronic applications, simplifying fabrication processes Easy to scale up Greatly enhance electrical conductivity along both lateral and vertical directions of the film Can be integrated into solder ball, high-level contact and via through silicon Enhanced mechanical modulus, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity along the vertical directions of the films

Features

Uses densified vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin film structure Develops a process to fabricate robust, reliable, and versatile carbon nanotube thin film sensors Develops a densification process to enhance various properties of vertically aligned carbon nanotube thin films, satisfying the requirements of applications in interconnects and packaging

Market Potential/Applications Semiconductor and microelectronics companies

UT Researcher Paul S. Ho, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Paul S. Ho, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Yunyu Wang, Ph.D., Microelectronics Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin Yunyu Wang, Ph.D., Microelectronics Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Type of Offer: Licensing



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