A Novel High-Conductance Thermal Interface for Aerospace Electronics

ABSTRACT: Current Separable Thermal Mechanical Interfaces (STMIs) found in advanced digital processing electronics are unable to efficiently remove dissipated heat, limiting performance far below their capability. The standard approach produces high contact resistance (~1.0C-in./W) with local variations in excess of 25%, severely limiting allowable electronic power levels. During this program, we will develop an innovative STMI that increases contact pressure, minimizes interface separation found in current approaches, and results in an order of magnitude decrease in contact resistance. During Phase I, we: (1) demonstrated the feasibility of our concept by developing a Creare Card Lock (CCL) that achieved a thermal contact resistance of 0.25C-in./W, well below the Phase I goal; (2) verified that our performance predictions for the Phase I STMI matched the experimental results; and (3) using the CCL as a baseline card lock, determined that with minor, end user-approved chassis modifications, an advanced STMI can achieve a contact resistance of 0.11C-in./W. During the Phase II project, we will complete the design, fabrication, testing, prequalification, and production planning of the prototype STMI to enable rapid technology transition and commercialization. BENEFIT: Creares STMI will reduce thermal contact resistance in slice-based plug and play electronic card cage applications by a factor of ten (10). This will enable higher power density electronic architectures for satellites, computers, and high-power lasers with no configuration changes.