A Jettable and Dispensable Liquid Metal Paste as a Thermal Interface Material

Abstract

Metal thermal interface materials (TIMs) have been used in the electronics industry for over 20 years. The thermal performance of any TIMs is defined by their thermal conductivity, bondline thickness, and interfacial resistance. Generally, metal TIMs have very high thermal conductivity and they can be applied in a thin layer. Most of the metals are hard and stiff, making interfacial resistance the biggest obstacle for metal TIMs to overcome. Over the years, many metal TIMs have been developed and used in applications to improve the performance of the components. Recently, liquid metal TIMs are getting more attention, especially in gaming and high-performance applications. They are excellent in terms of accommodating imperfections of the materials they are connecting, but their physical properties can make application risky. To overcome this challenge, a new metal TIMs material - liquid metal paste (LMP) TIM – has been developed. This paper will examine this new material’s thermal conductivity, viscosity, jetting, and dispensing performance compared with other existing metal TIMs, such as liquid metal. The application in mass manufacturing will be studied, with a solution to prevent leakage and provide higher thermal cycling performance (-40°C / +125°C) for LMP.