Cu/Diamond (Cu/Dia) composites are regarded as next-generation thermal dissipation materials and hold tremendous potential for use in future high-power electronic devices. The interface structure between the Cu matrix and the diamond has a significant impact on the thermophysical properties of the composite materials. In this study, Cu/Dia composite materials were fabricated using the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process. The results indicate that the agglomeration of diamond particles decreases with increasing particle size and that a uniform distribution is achieved at 200 μm. With an increase in the sintering temperature, the interface bonding is first optimized and then weakened, with the optimal sintering temperature being 900 °C. The addition of Cr to the Cu matrix leads to the formation of Cr₇C₃ after sintering, which enhances the relative density and bonding strength at the interface, transitioning it from a physical bond to a metallurgical bond. Optimizing the diamond particle size increased the thermal conductivity from 310 W/m K to 386 W/m K, while further optimizing the interface led to a significant increase to 516 W/m K, representing an overall improvement of approximately 66%.

High-power microelectronic packaging faces critical thermomechanical failures under rapid thermal cycling, primarily due to interfacial stress concentration and warping in conventional homogeneous heat sinks. To address this challenge, this study proposes a novel functionally graded SiC/Al composite with a tailored thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) gradient, designed to achieve adaptive thermal expansion matching between the chip and heat sink. Through multiscale finite element analysis, the stress–strain behavior and warping characteristics of homogeneous (Cu and Al) and gradient materials were systematically investigated. The results show that the gradient SiC/Al design significantly reduces the peak thermal stress and maximum warping deformation. The progressive CTE transition effectively mitigates abrupt interfacial strain jumps and extends device lifespan under extreme thermal loads. This advancement positions gradient SiC/Al composites as a key enabler for next-generation high-density packaging and power electronics requiring cyclic thermal stability. The study provides both theoretical insights into thermomechanical coupling and practical guidelines for designing robust electronic packaging solutions.

Relaxor ferroelectrics play a vital role as functional components in electromechanical devices. The observation of micro-scale domain structure evolution under electric bias in relaxor ferroelectrics has posed challenges due to their complex domain morphology characterized by small-sized domains. The present study aims to investigate the dielectric diffusion–relaxation characteristics, domain structure, and domain switching evolution under electric bias in high-performance single crystals of Pb(In_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃-Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-33PbTiO₃. The findings reveal the presence of strip-like domain patterns that interlock irregular small-sized nanodomains in PIN-PMN-33PT single crystals. Furthermore, the sample undergoes three distinct stages under electric bias, including the nucleation of new domains, the gradual forward expansion of domains, and the lateral expansion of domains. These observations provide valuable insights for understanding and exploring domain engineering techniques in relaxor ferroelectrics.

To meet the escalating demands for high-performance piezoelectric materials in fields such as modern medical diagnostics, precision manufacturing, etc ., we developed a ternary 0.555Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.145PbZrO3-0.30PbTiO3 (PNN-PZ-PT) piezoelectric ceramic located at the tricritical point of rhombohedral, tetragonal and pseudocubic phases. This ceramic, with coexistence of multiple ferroelectric phases, demonstrates an ultrahigh piezoelectric coefficient d 33 of 1190 picocoulombs per newton (pC/N) and a large relative dielectric constant ε r of 9900. Analysis of the domain structure reveals irregular maze-like nanodomains with strong local disorder. These nanodomain structures exhibit excellent local piezoelectric response and polarization switching characteristics, thereby enhancing the alignment of polarization vectors during poling and ensuring the high stability after being poled. The tricritical point composition with disordered nanodomains can significantly enhance the contribution of polarization to macroscopic piezoelectric properties, offering a promising approach for developing ceramics with superior piezoelectricity.