Thermal Management Metal Matrix Materials

Santier’s products include thermal management materials for wireless communication, internet infrastructure, and military, aerospace and industrial applications. Santier specialises in the manufacture of composite metal matrix materials such as copper tungsten (CuW) and copper molybdenum (CuMo). The base material (W or Mo) starts off in powder form, and is then pressed under very high pressure to form a stable block. Copper is then infiltrated into the base material at high temperatures to form a composite blank. SEM testing ensures complete and homogeneous infiltration.

A variety of processes then form the composite blank into its finished shape. These processes include grinding and lapping for exact thickness control, CNC machining to form the various features (pedestals, cut-outs, etc.), EDM for complex and intricate parts, and CMM for verification and measurements of critical dimensions.

The final stage of the process is cleaning and plating to customer requirements. As plating is key to quality, this is all done in-house on automated plating lines.

With the advent of Compound Semiconductor materials such as Gallium Nitride (GaN), it has become ever more critical to dissipate the heat generated by these materials as quickly as possible. For these challenging applications, Santier offers Super-CMC (S-CuMoCu) laminate material. Its thermal conductivity in the Z-axis is significantly higher (290W/m°K) than traditional materials such as CuW and CuMo. Super-CMC can be machined to create cavities and pedestals, brazed to other materials at temperatures up to 950°C, and gold-over-nickel plated.

Santier also offers a wide range of refractory metals such as aluminium, copper, aluminium-graphite, and copper-graphite.