Enhancing Thermal Applications With Lab-Grown Diamonds

Ensuring efficient thermal management is often a bottleneck faced across many crucial electronic devices. The existing cooling solutions built using materials like copper, silicon and silicon carbide are limited by their low thermal conductivities. With the rise of lab-grown diamonds, their use in device fabrication has gained popularity. This is beneficial especially for applications that require efficient heat dissipation, thanks to the exceptional thermal conductivity of diamonds.  

In this blog, lets understand why opting for lab-grown diamonds will effectively address thermal management needs. Let us also look at their growing role in shaping the future of high-performance technologies. 

Table of Contents

• How Aga9's Lab-Grown Diamond Plates Help Deal With Thermal Management

• Real World Applications in Thermal Management

• Growing Demand for Lab-Grown Diamonds

• Conclusion

• FAQs

How Aga9's Lab-Grown Diamond Plates Help Deal With Thermal Management? 

The efficient information exchange and communication are the primary and foremost processes which impact our day to day life significantly. High power and high frequency devices are greatly exploited to perform the aforementioned tasks in the areas such as 5G/6G communication systems, weather satellites, cellular base stations, radio-frequency devices, and power electronics. 

High-electron mobility transistors (HEMT) is the key component in developing high power high frequency devices. Gallium nitride (GaN) stands out as the state-of-the-art material for HEMT fabrication as it exhibits high electron saturation rates, electron mobility and breakdown field. Often, silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) are used with GaN for HEMT fabrication and devices are categorized as GaN-on-Si and GaN-on-SiC.

Although commercially available GaN-HEMT is suffering from the low power density values ranging from 3-8 W/mm. Low thermal conductivities, high thermal boundary resistance (TBR) values, and high self-heating effects (SHEs) are the key issues in the existing devices.

Using synthetic diamond plates in place of Si or SiC as the substrate materials greatly eliminates the heating issues in HEMT devices. Due to its highest thermal conductivity, diamond transfers the generated heat from the active region towards the sink side of the packaged device, resulting in eliminating the  localized heating. Theoretically, 3 m²K/GW is the lowest achievable TBR in GaN-on-Diamond HEMT. Also, low interfacial thermal resistance and no current collapsing phenomenon are observed, experimentally. 

The above discussion suggests the importance of diamond usage as the substrate material for developing cooling solutions for HEMT fabrication. There is an urgent need to develop diamonds with great material properties and large sizes to cater the requirements of the semiconducting industries for HEMT fabrications.

Let us understand the different material properties of diamonds in this section below: 

• High Thermal Conductivity: Diamond’s thermal conductivity can reach up to 2200 W/m.K at room temperature which is significantly higher than Si, SiC, copper and aluminium. Therefore, it is a highly suitable candidate for fabrication of the power electronic devices.

• Excellent Durability: Diamonds have good hardness showcasing brilliant durability. This is what makes diamonds resistant to wear and tear and perform better compared to other materials. Further, they maintain excellent surface integrity under extreme mechanical and thermal stress. 

• High Temperature Stability: Lab-grown diamonds have the ability to remain stable under extreme high temperatures. They have a sublimation point of around 3550 degrees Celsius. This property makes diamonds a perfect fit for operating in environments with intense heat without the risk of melting, deforming or degrading. Be it high-power electronics or advanced GPU systems, lab-grown diamonds based cooling technology is here to address device heating issues. 

• Chemical Inertness: Diamonds do not show any reaction to oxidation and corrosion. They have far better inertness compared to commonly used materials like silicon. No matter how harsh the condition is, diamonds perform well. They do not degrade or corrode less compared to other materials. 

Real World Applications of Lab-Grown Diamonds in Thermal Management

The following section highlights the real world applications of lab-grown diamonds in thermal management:

• GaN-on-Diamond Devices 

  Gallium Nitride (GaN) transistors are built on silicon carbide (SiC) as the base. SiC is a good option when it comes to handling power and operating at high frequencies. However while running they tend to heat up because of the electrical current flowing through them. Too much heat generation can cause damage hence it is important to limit their power. 

  Diamonds will prove to be an excellent addition as a heat sink and is perfect for cooling and driving heat away very quickly. 

• Computing and Artificial Intelligence 

  Artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) systems need more and more processing power in smaller spaces. It is crucial to cool down these systems as this can slow down progress and make it hard to build even faster computers. Lab-grown diamond (LGD) heat spreaders can help in solving this issue as they carry heat away much more effectively. 

  The best part about LGD heat spreaders is that they can be attached directly to silicon chips. Other conventional materials usually require a thick layer which reduces cooling efficiency. 

  Thanks to their high thermal conductivity and the ability to be bonded directly to silicon, lab-grown diamond heat spreaders provide better cooling than copper ones. This not only improves performance without extra cooling power but also allows for thinner silicon layers in the chips.

• Communications Infrastructure 

  5G technology saw good progress ever since it was introduced. As we progress to 6G technology  the use of high frequencies (known as terahertz frequencies) will increase.  High frequency devices generate heat significantly during its operation. Hence new solutions are required to address these challenges as the current power electronic devices are limited due to its low thermal properties. LGDs unique material properties can effectively address these growing demands. Diamonds can manage heat and enable building resilient 6G communication hardware. 

• Optoelectronics 

  Diamond substrates are used in many high-power laser diodes and optical sensors for effectively managing heat. They are ideal for demanding optical assemblies thanks to diamond's transparency and hardness. Semiconductor lasers and photodetectors will witness stable output even under high drive current due to diamond heat sinks. 

• Electric Vehicles 

  Electric vehicles (EVs) are growing at an incredible number. Here is where the need for diamonds will expand. HEMTs also played a crucial role in fabricating inverters and chargers for Electric vehicles (EVs). Therefore, the diamond based HEMT will be transforming the EV production and performances too.

  The high thermal conductivity of diamonds has the capacity to drive away heat from critical components and enhance the overall performance. Transform the performance of EV power electronics with diamond substrates. 

Lab-Grown Diamond (LGD) Market Outlook 

Lab-grown diamonds have become quite popular ever since they were first introduced. Let us go through valuable insights that highlight the growth of lab-grown diamonds: 

• The market stood at USD 25.98 billion in 2024

• In the current year, the market rose to USD 29.46 billion 

• By 2032 the market is expected to grow to 74.46 billion

Conclusion

In conclusion, Aga9's lab-Grown diamonds are proving to be a sustainable and green alternative to address the heating issues in high-power devices. Lab-grown diamond cooling technology has opened new possibilities across industries. Industries such as high-performance computing and electric vehicles will derive many benefits if they replace their existing material with diamonds. Key properties of diamonds from their exceptional thermal conductivity to mechanical strength are proving to be a good reason why companies must consider using diamond based solutions. 

FAQs 

1. How does diamond substrate benefit GaN-on-Diamond devices? 

Diamond substrates will show significant improvement in GaN devices due to their ability to manage heat far more effectively than other materials. 

2. What do you mean by lab-grown diamond heat spreaders?

Diamond heat spreader is a thermal management device that drives away heat from electronic components efficiently. 

3. How large is the market for diamond heat spreaders?

At present the market size of diamond heat spreader stands at $0.35 billion.