'Dry-To-The-Touch' Thermal Grease

摘要

Most thermal engineers share the belief that thermal greases (or heat sink compounds) provide the lowest thermal resistance among all thermal interface materials, even with efforts being made to develop workable replacements that are easy to apply in a manufacturing environment. Micro-faze? is a proprietary design, dry-to-the-touch thermal grease product that offers the lowest thermal resistance at low closure force, thereby eliminating the need to sacrifice thermal performance for convenience. This dry grease is totally adaptable to die-cut and possesses a natural tackiness that allows it to adhere to a component or heat sink without using adhesives that degrade thermal performance. The material also exhibits a positive CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) and its thixotropic properties allow it to wet surfaces, which further improves interface contact. It is electrically insulating in one version. It is silicone-free in both versions so that contamination problems are avoided. With the world of thermal management becoming ever more complex, engineers need to measure the convenience of silicone elastomer thermal pads, and, more recently, wax-based phase-change materials, against the superior performance demonstrated by use of thermal grease. Although easy to use, thermal pads still show a relatively high thermal resistance; phase-change materials may perform better, yet bear limitations in performance. While grease offers superior performance, it can be messy and difficult to handle, thereby becoming labor intensive, making these considerations key factors in the rationale for the product's development. This paper describes a new thermal interface material that employs all of the advantages of grease replacements, with the lowest thermal resistance of actual thermal grease.