Carbon fibre reinforced copper matrix composites: Production routes and functional properties

Carbon fibre reinforced copper matrix composites possess tailorable coefficients of thermal expansion and high thermal conductivities. These properties are very interesting for applications as heat sink material [11. It is a competitive material which is able to overcome some of the disadvantages (high density, bad machinability) of e.g. Copper-Molybdenum, Copper-Invar or Aluminium-Silicon Carbide. Several production routes of carbon fibre reinforced copper matrix composites are presented. This paper pays special attention to short carbon fibre reinforced copper matrix composites produced via hot pressing. There are two possibilities: Hot pressing of carbon fibre/copper powder mixtures or hot pressing of copper coated carbon fibres. Different carbon fibres (PAN-type, PITCH-type) will be discussed. PITCH-type fibres are better for the foreseen applications because of their higher thermal conductivity. Finally joinability and thermal cycling behavior are discussed.