In Situ Testing of Metal Micro-Textured Thermal Interface Materials in Telecommunications Applications

Novel nanostructured thermal interface materials: a review

“…Kempers et al [178] have worked on TIM based on mechanically deformed metal foils. A metal foil is textured with microfeatures such as cones which deform and conform to a surface under pressure.…”

“…A metal foil is textured with microfeatures such as cones which deform and conform to a surface under pressure. Several different foil geometries have been investigated [179], and while the performance of these metal micro-textured TIMs is much lower than the highest-performing TIMs, on the order of 100 Kmm 2 W −1 , it compares favourably compared to common graphite pads [178, 180]. Further optimisation and a more facile manufacturing method could make this a viable TIM in some applications.…”

Present and future thermal interface materials for electronic devices

“…20 GPa. For a mechanically formed interface, the lowest thermal boundary resistance claimed to date [27] is between a [100] single crystal silicon membrane adhered by van der Waals forces to a bulk [100] single crystal oriented in the same crystallographic direction to eliminate acoustic mismatch. A value of 2.8 × 10 −5 cm 2 KW −1 was reported for mating of a hydrogen-terminated to an oxide-terminated surface.…”

“…Boundary resistance at these high-quality junctions are studied by a number of advanced techniques such as time domain thermoreflectance, and are affected by nanoscale roughness, disorder, dislocations and other effect of the joining process (see Hopkins [24] for recent review) For example, recent investigations have explored the effect of pressure and crystal orientation, and surface chemistry at the aluminium/diamond interface formed by deposited Al growth, showing up to a fivefold decrease in boundary resistance for oxygen vs. hydrogen termination [25]. For the more common oxygen terminated surface, typical values range from 1.4 × 10 −4 to 5 × 10 −5 cm 2 KW −1 for the [100] vs. [110] diamond face at low pressure [26], decreasing to a common value of 3 × 10 −5 cm 2 KW −1 at high pressures above Table 1. Air-cooling solutions: thermal management key areas for improving the heat removal from the silicon die to the heat sink [21].…”

“…The concept was demonstrated to have an effective thermal conductivity of between 4 and 7 Wm −1 K −1 and associated thermal resistance as low as 0.6 cm 2 KW −1 at a pressure of 1.5 MPa. The same TIM concept was later deployed using tin which reduced the thermal resistance below 0.1 cm 2 KW −1 at the same assembly pressure [100].…”