Aluminum nitride: Processing and applications

Aluminum nitride is an important advanced ceramic and is becoming increasingly important as a substrate material for electronic thermal management. However there are several other potential areas of application such as liquid metal handling and for increasing the thermal conductivity of polymers. This article reviews the literature dealing with the physical and mechanical properties of AlN as well as the processing and sintering behaviour, which must be controlled in order to achieve these properties, particularly thermal conductivity. A major focus is on the applications and of AlN and some of the challenges that still face researchers and engineers prior to the full exploitation of this ceramic for commercial applications, particularly in the electronics industry.