High thermal conductivity in indium-based metal/diamond composites by good wettability of diamond with indium

Low melting point metal (LMPM) has potential application value in the field of thermal management. Indium-based LMPM/diamond composites were manufactured using sintering technique. The thermal conductivity of Bi-In-Sn/diamond composites was improved by pre-adding indium particles fabricated using slice technique. Using in-situ imaging and particle dipping experiment, the wetting behavior of diamond microparticle with pure indium, indium-based and gallium-based liquid metal (LM) was investigated. The diamond microparticle was well wetted by molten indium. The wettability of diamond with gallium can be improved by alloying gallium with indium. Oxide film of LM would hinder the wetting of LM on diamond. The highest thermal conductivity of Bi-In-Sn/diamond composites and indium/diamond composites obtained in this work was up to 157 W m−1 K−1 and 211 W m−1 K−1, respectively.