Infrared emissivity measurement for vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based heat spreader applied in high power electronics packaging

Vertically-aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes were deposited on silicon substrate by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), which can be utilized as heat spreaders in high power electronic packaging due to their remarkable thermal conductivity. The infrared emissivity of the vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes was then characterized based on the FLIR SC600 infrared imaging system. The average infrared emissivity of the multiwall carbon nanotubes sample was about 0.92, which agrees well with experimental results reported before. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the multiwall carbon nanotubes were further analyzed to explain its high emissivity, and the reason can be attributed to the homogeneous sparseness and aligned structure of the vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes.