Surface Chemistry and Characteristics Based Model for the Thermal Contact Resistance of Fluidic Interstitial Thermal Interface Materials

2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 969-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi S. Prasher

Microprocessor powers are increasing at a phenomenal rate, which requires very small thermal resistance between the die (chip) and the ambient, if the current economical methods of conduction and convection cooling are to be utilized. A typical thermal solution in flip chip technology utilizes two levels of thermal interface materials: between the die and the heat spreader, and between the heat spreader and the heat sink. Phase change materials and thermal greases are among the most prominent interstitial thermal interface materials (TIM) used in electronic packaging. These TIMs are typically polymeric matrix loaded with highly conducting filler particles. The dwindling thermal budget has necessitated a better understanding of the thermal resistance of each component of the thermal solution. Thermal conductivity of these particle-laden materials is better understood than their contact resistance. A careful review of the literature reveals the lack of analytical models for the prediction of contact resistance of these types of interstitial materials, which possess fluidic properties. This paper introduces an analytical model for the thermal contact resistance of these types of interstitial materials. This model is compared with the experimental data obtained on the contact resistance of these TIMs. The model, which depends on parameters such as, surface tension, contact angle, thermal conductivity, roughness and pressure matches very well with the experimental data at low pressures and is still within the error bars at higher pressures.

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1699
Author(s):  
Sriharsha Sudhindra ◽  
Fariborz Kargar ◽  
Alexander A. Balandin

We report on experimental investigation of thermal contact resistance, RC, of the noncuring graphene thermal interface materials with the surfaces characterized by different degree of roughness, Sq. It is found that the thermal contact resistance depends on the graphene loading, ξ, non-monotonically, achieving its minimum at the loading fraction of ξ ~15 wt %. Decreasing the surface roughness by Sq~1 μm results in approximately the factor of ×2 decrease in the thermal contact resistance for this graphene loading. The obtained dependences of the thermal conductivity, KTIM, thermal contact resistance, RC, and the total thermal resistance of the thermal interface material layer on ξ and Sq can be utilized for optimization of the loading fraction of graphene for specific materials and roughness of the connecting surfaces. Our results are important for the thermal management of high-power-density electronics implemented with diamond and other wide-band-gap semiconductors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.33) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
Mazlan Mohamed ◽  
Mohd Nazri Omar ◽  
Mohamad Shaiful Ashrul Ishak ◽  
Rozyanty Rahman ◽  
Zaiazmin Y.N ◽  
...  

Epoxy mixed with others filler for thermal interface material (TIM) had been well conducted and developed. There are problem occurs when previous material were used as matrix material likes epoxy that has non-uniform thickness of thermal interface material produce, time taken for solidification and others. Thermal pad or thermal interface material using graphene as main material to overcome the existing problem and at the same time to increase thermal conductivity and thermal contact resistance. Three types of composite graphene were used for thermal interface material in this research. The sample that contain 10 wt. %, 20 wt. % and 30 wt. % of graphene was used with different contain of graphene oxide (GO).  The thermal conductivity of thermal interface material is both measured and it was found that the increase of amount of graphene used will increase the thermal conductivity of thermal interface material. The highest thermal conductivity is 12.8 W/ (mK) with 30 w. % graphene. The comparison between the present thermal interface material and other thermal interface material show that this present graphene-epoxy is an excellent thermal interface material in increasing thermal conductivity.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seok-Hwan Chung ◽  
Jong Tae Kim ◽  
Dong Hwan Kim

Abstract Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are extensively used in electronic devices as efficient heat transfer materials. We fabricated all-carbon TIMs by hybridizing single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with graphite and demonstrated their performance by applying them to a thermoelectric generator (TEG) device. The hybrid carbon TIM exhibited maximum thermal conductivity when the SWCNT content was near 10 wt%. The TIM thermal contact resistance measured by a home-made calorimeter setup was 2.19 × 10−4 m2K/W, which did not vary with temperature but decreased with applied pressure. Post-treatment of the TIM with a silane coupling agent further reduced the TIM thermal contact resistance by 30%. When the TIM was placed between a TEG device and a copper heat reservoir, the TEG output power increased with the temperature difference across the TEG and applied pressure. Moreover, the post-treatment of the TIM enhanced the output power of the TEG device by up to 18.5%. This work provides a simple and effective pathway towards a carbon-based TIM that can be applied to a high temperature TEG.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1010 ◽  
pp. 160-165
Author(s):  
Mazlan Mohamed ◽  
Mohd Nazri Omar ◽  
Mohamad Shaiful Ashrul Ishak ◽  
Rozyanty Rahman ◽  
Nor Zaiazmin Yahaya ◽  
...  

Thermal interface material (TIM) had been well conducted and developed by using several material as based material. A lot of combination and mixed material were used to increase thermal properties of TIM. Combination between materials for examples carbon nanotubes (CNT) and epoxy had had been used before but the significant of the studied are not exactly like predicted. In this studied, thermal interface material using graphene and CNT as main material were used to increase thermal conductivity and thermal contact resistance. These two types of TIM had been compare to each other in order to find wich material were able to increase the thermal conductivity better. The sample that contain 20 wt. %, 40 wt. % and 60 wt. % of graphene and CNT were used in this studied. The thermal conductivity of thermal interface material is both measured and it was found that TIM made of graphene had better thermal conductivity than CNT. The highest thermal conductivity is 23.2 W/ (mK) with 60 w. % graphene meanwhile at 60 w. % of CNT only produce 12.2 W/ (mK thermal conductivity).


2014 ◽  
Vol 592-594 ◽  
pp. 1493-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swamy R. Narayana ◽  
Prabhu K. Narayan

The thermal contact resistance (TCR) between similar and dissimilar materials (copper, aluminium, brass and type 304 stainless steel) was assessed. Copper foil, aluminium foil, lead and Sn-9Zn lead free solder were selected as thermal interface materials (TIMs). The interfacial contact pressure was varied by application of load on materials in contact. The interfacial heat flux was estimated by solving the inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP). At higher load, the temporal variation of thermal contact resistance showed early occurrence of peak and lower values of TCR. The use of thermal interface materials reduced the contact resistance between the hot source and cold sink materials. Among the interface materials used, Sn-9Zn lead free solder showed the lowest contact resistance. This was attributed to the solid to liquid phase transformation at higher temperatures and the conformance of the interface material to surfaces in contact. Factorial experiments were carried out to determine the significance of experimental variables on TCR. The analysis showed that the effect of applied load on TCR was significant compared to other parameters.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1236
Author(s):  
Jingyao Gao ◽  
Qingwei Yan ◽  
Xue Tan ◽  
Le Lv ◽  
Jufeng Ying ◽  
...  

Given the thermal management problem aroused by increasing power densities of electronic components in the system, graphene-based papers have raised considerable interest for applications as thermal interface materials (TIMs) to solve interfacial heat transfer issues. Significant research efforts have focused on enhancing the through-plane thermal conductivity of graphene paper; however, for practical thermal management applications, reducing the thermal contact resistance between graphene paper and the mating surface is also a challenge to be addressed. Here, a strategy aimed at reducing the thermal contact resistance between graphene paper and the mating surface to realize enhanced heat dissipation was demonstrated. For this, graphene paper was decorated with polydopamine EGaIn nanocapsules using a facile dip-coating process. In practical TIM application, there was a decrease in the thermal contact resistance between the TIMs and mating surface after decoration (from 46 to 15 K mm2 W−1), which enabled the decorated paper to realize a 26% enhancement of cooling efficiency compared with the case without decoration. This demonstrated that this method is a promising route to enhance the heat dissipation capacity of graphene-based TIMs for practical electronic cooling applications.


Author(s):  
Vadim Gektin ◽  
Sai Ankireddi ◽  
Jim Jones ◽  
Stan Pecavar ◽  
Paul Hundt

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are used as thermally conducting media to carry away the heat dissipated by an energy source (e.g. active circuitry on a silicon die). Thermal properties of these interface materials, specified on vendor datasheets, are obtained under conditions that rarely, if at all, represent real life environment. As such, they do not accurately portray the material thermal performance during a field operation. Furthermore, a thermal engineer has no a priori knowledge of how large, in addition to the bulk thermal resistance, the interface contact resistances are, and, hence, how much each influences the cooling strategy. In view of these issues, there exists a need for these materials/interfaces to be characterized experimentally through a series of controlled tests before starting on a thermal design. In this study we present one such characterization for a candidate thermal interface material used in an electronic cooling application. In a controlled test environment, package junction-to-case, Rjc, resistance measurements were obtained for various bondline thicknesses (BLTs) of an interface material over a range of die sizes. These measurements were then curve-fitted to obtain numerical models for the measured thermal resistance for a given die size. Based on the BLT and the associated thermal resistance, the bulk thermal conductivity of the TIM and the interface contact resistance were determined, using the approach described in the paper. The results of this study permit sensitivity analyses of BLT and its effect on thermal performance for future applications, and provide the ability to extrapolate the results obtained for the given die size to a different die size. The suggested methodology presents a readily adaptable approach for the characterization of TIMs and interface/contact resistances in the industry.


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