title: Fabrication of carbon nanotube thermal interface material on aluminum alloy substrates with low pressure CVD.
abstract: High quality vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays have been synthesized on bulk Al alloy (Al6063) substrates with an electron-beam (E-beam) evaporated Fe catalyst using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The pretreatment process of the catalyst was shown to play a critical role. This was studied comprehensively and optimized to repeatedly grow high quality VACNT arrays within a wide range of thicknesses of catalyst layer (2-11 nm) and acetylene (C(2)H(2)) flow rates (100-300 sccm). The thermal performance of the resulting VACNT arrays was evaluated. The minimum interfacial thermal resistance of the Si/VACNT/Al interfaces achieved so far is only 4 mm(2) K W(-1), and the average value is 14.6 mm(2) K W(-1).
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M M F
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Yuen