Understanding the performance characteristics of phase-change thermal interface materials
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Rauch, B.
- Source
- ITHERM 2000. The Seventh Intersociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems (Cat. No.00CH37069) Thermal and thermomechanical phenomena in electronic systems Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, 2000. ITHERM 2000. The Seventh Intersociety Conference on. 1:42-47 2000
- Subject
- Computing and Processing
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Signal Processing and Analysis
General Topics for Engineers
Phase change materials
Thermal conductivity
Temperature
Materials testing
Surface impedance
Conducting materials
Solids
Performance evaluation
Thermal resistance
Contact resistance
- Language
To aid in the understanding of phase-change thermal interface materials, the results of characterization testing performed on three currently available materials are discussed. These tests were performed using the methods of ASTM D 5470 modified to account for the properties of phase-change materials. These data reveal that while the materials tested show a variation in performance, they all achieve their minimum thermal impedance values by reducing their thickness and eliminating interfacial contact resistance after phase change. This paper also discusses an example of how to apply the test data to a specific application to predict the interface temperature difference when the interface mechanical specifications, mounting pressure and power density are defined.