Influence of solid loading on microstructure evolution and thermal conductivity of aluminum nitride ceramics fabricated by digital light processing 3D printing

Efficient thermal management is essential to reduce hot spot temperature of high-power opto-electronic components and improve their working efficiency. In this work, AlN ceramics with high density and thermal conductivity properties were fabricated using a joint process of digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing and micro-pressure-assisted sintering method. Effects of solid loading on microstructure evolution and thermal properties of the ceramics were systematically discussed. AlN ceramic mini-channel heat sinks were designed and fabricated using the optimized DLP 3D printing and sintering parameters. The thermal management performances of the ceramic heat sinks were evaluated by investigating the optoelectronic property of the encapsulated laser diode module. Results indicated that the laser diode module could be long-timely operated at full driven power. This study provided a new strategy for fabricating high performance AlN ceramics with complex configurations and highlighted the technical potential of AlN ceramic heat sink with compact coolant channels.