Currently, thermal management strategies for power battery systems fall into four primary categories: natural cooling, air cooling, liquid cooling, and direct cooling.
Natural cooling relies on passive heat dissipation, whereas air, liquid, and direct cooling are active approaches. The key distinction among these active methods lies in the type of heat-transfer medium they employ.
Traditional Battery Cooling Systems:
To effectively regulate the temperature gradient between the battery cells and the cooling unit, liquid-based cooling remains one of the most efficient solutions.
How Ceramic Heat Dissipation Enhances Battery Cooling
Ceramic materials with high thermal conductivity can replace conventional insulating plastics, which typically exhibit poor heat-transfer performance.
Research indicates that ceramics—thanks to their combination of excellent thermal conductivity and strong electrical insulation—enable rapid heat spread and improved temperature uniformity. Among these materials, aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrates are currently the most widely adopted.
Advantages of Aluminum Nitride Ceramic Substrates
Aluminum nitride substrates offer a blend of high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion, mechanical strength, heat resistance, chemical stability, high resistivity, and low dielectric loss. These properties make AlN an outstanding substrate and packaging material for high-density integrated circuits.
Aluminum nitride ceramic substrates
1. High Thermal Conductivity
Aluminum nitride exhibits exceptionally high thermal conductivity, with theoretical values reaching up to 320 W/m·K—significantly higher than conventional alumina. This positions AlN as a top-tier heat dissipation material for electronics, LED systems, laser devices, and other high-power applications, contributing to improved system efficiency and extended service life.
2. Superior Electrical Insulation
AlN substrates maintain strong electrical insulation, a low dielectric constant, and minimal dielectric loss, even under high-frequency operation. These electrical characteristics make AlN a preferred choice for high-frequency circuits, power modules, and other high-power electronic components.
3. Thermal Expansion Compatibility
With a thermal expansion coefficient of approximately 4.5×10⁻⁶/K, aluminum nitride closely matches key semiconductor materials such as silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). This compatibility minimizes thermal stress during operation and enhances overall device reliability and stability.
Thanks to their high thermal conductivity, heat resistance, insulation performance, and low thermal expansion, ceramic substrates serve a broad range of applications beyond battery systems. Today, they are extensively used in the packaging of power electronic devices, including IGBT modules, LD packages, LED modules, and chip-level packaging solutions.
