Low-cost, High Thermal Conductivity Interface Materials

Electronic devices in general, and high power, high-speed electronics in particular, generate substantial amounts of heat that must be removed in order for the device to continue to function. Finned metal blocks and heat pipes assist in removing the heat from individual components and circuit boards. Soft, possibly adhesive elastomers help fill the small gaps between the component packaging and the heat sink, thereby greatly improving the quality of the interface through which heat can flow. Since the thermal conductivity of elastomers is rather poor, they are filled with fine particles of a good thermal conductor. Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has long been a material of choice for the filler, since it combines outstanding thermal conductivity with a low dielectric constant. Recently, polymers with small, exfoliated BN sheets have demonstrated tremendous increases in thermal conductivity, primarily due to improved alignment of the hBN in the direction of the heat flow. However, the reported methods of alignment are often not practicable in a manufacturing context, and the polymers are not generally suitable for thermal interface materials (TIMs). TDA will address these issues with a low-cost manufacturing process built around polymers that have long found to be satisfactory for TIMs.