In 2026, diamond-copper composites officially moved out of the laboratory. With advantages in high thermal conductivity, controllable thermal expansion, and brazeable processability, they are becoming a key bridge for thermal management in high-density computing.
Why "Diamond + Copper"?
Single-crystal diamond has a thermal conductivity of up to 1000–2200 W/m·K and an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion, making it one of the top-performing materials known for heat conduction. However, it is hard, brittle, and extremely difficult to weld and precision-machine. Copper offers excellent plasticity, brazing compatibility, and mature processing technology, but its thermal conductivity has already hit its upper limit, and its coefficient of thermal expansion is relatively high (≈17 ppm/K), resulting in poor thermal matching with silicon, GaN, and SiC chips and large stresses under thermal cycling.
Combining the two is a typical case of complementary performance. By tuning diamond volume fraction, particle size, and interface structure, diamond-copper can achieve three controllable indicators:
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High thermal conductivity: rapidly spreading local hot spots.
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Adjustable coefficient of thermal expansion: tunable to 4–8 ppm/K, close to that of semiconductor chips.
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Retained processability: retaining copper's machinability, platability, and brazeability.
This allows it to be directly fabricated into heat spreader lids, packaging substrates, and transition heat sinks.
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