FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING OF MMC ELECTRONIC PACKAGES

METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES (MMC), WITH THEIR HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, LIGHT WEIGHT, EMI SHIELDING, AND TAILORABLE COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION (CTE) ARE THE EMERGING MATERIALS OF CHOICE FOR HEAT SINK, CONSTRAINING CORE, AND PACKAGING APPLICATIONS. AFFORDABLE AND TIMELY MANUFACTURING METHODS ARE DESIRED FOR SMALL LOTS OF ELECTRONIC PACKAGING APPLICATIONS SUCH AS MICROWAVE T/R MODULE AND MULTICHIP MODULES (MCMS). IN THIS PROJECT, THE COMPOSITE PROCESSING CAPABILITY AND THE TOOLING FABRICATION CAPABILITY ARE BEING COMBINED TO DEVELOP A FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR SMALL PRODUCTION RUNS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE MMC ELECTRONIC PACKAGES. A PROTOTYPE MMC MCMS IS BEING DEIGNED TO TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SOLID FREEFORM FABRICATION (SFF) MODELS TO GENERATE TOOLING FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING OF MMC PACKAGES. NEAR-NET-SHAPE MANUFACTURING OF THE COMPOSITE PACKAGES IS BEING DEMONSTRATED. PROPERTIES OF MMC PACKAGES SUCH AS CTE, THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, MODULUS, DENSITY, SURFACE FINISH, AND DIMENSIONAL TOLERANCE ARE BEING CHARACTERIZED.