Pyrolytic - Graphite Thermal Management

APPLICATIONS

Pyrolytic - Graphite Thermal Management

S-Bond Fabrication of TPG* Thermal Straps

“Active Solder Metallization of Thermal Pyrolytic Graphite (TPG) Materials”

S-Bond active solders are being used to join Thermal Pyrolytic Graphite (TPG) materials to a range of different metals, metal composites, silicon, glass and ceramics. With thermal management being an increasingly critical problem in today’s microelectronics industry, TPG* materials, with their extremely high thermal conductivity (TC), light weight, and low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), are being employed for many emerging high performance thermal management devices. TPG* materials are unique synthetic materials produced via chemical vapor deposition, consisting of layers of highly-oriented stacked graphene planes that offer excellent in-plane thermal conductivity (>1500 W/mK) and very low density (2.25 g/cm3) as illustrated in Figure 1. TPG* materials can demonstrate tremendous performance advantages over common heat spreading materials, such as aluminum and copper in thermal management applications, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1 Crystallinity illustrations of as-deposited PG showing turbostratic structure (a) and annealed TPG material with highly oriented graphene stacks (b), and electron microscope image of a cross section view of TPG material showing well aligned graphene stack (c). Test results. Actual results may vary.

In order to take advantage of its exceptional properties for thermal management, various forms of TPG-metal composite and encapsulated products have been developed by Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (“Momentive”). One of the TPG-based thermal management products is TMP-FX thermal strap, which consists of a TPG sheet sandwiched by very thin metal foils such as tin. In addition to high thermal conductivity and low weight, the thermal strap also presents low profile, flexibility, formability and solderability, which make it an excellent candidate for heat spreading in very tight space.

Figure 2 Comparison between TPG material and other commonly used thermal management materials: Left – IR images of thermal straps with 30 Watts power loading on the right side; Right – Thermal conductivity and density. Test data. Actual results may vary.

Thanks to the flexibility of thin TPG sheet (Figure 3), TMP-FX thermal strap can be further shaped to create bends or turns without losing any of its high thermal conductivity. The tin metallized TPG-FX thermal strap using S-Bond Active Solder technology provides an excellent solderable surface for firm mechanical attachment and, most important of all, low thermal resistance interface to electronic devices and other thermal management components. Other popular thermal strap applications include heat sink fins and heat spreaders.

Figure 3 A TMP-FX thermal strap (tin metallized) with total thickness of 0.5 mm and bending radius of 25 mm

The benefits from the integrated TPG solutions are anticipated in a broad range of high power electronics applications, including RF/MW, laser, LED, and power management, etc. To review recent technical developments on thermal management components, visit S-Bond’s “Technical Blog” and search “TPG” or “graphite bonding”. For more information on TPG* materials and how S-Bond active solders can enable fabrication of thermal management components, please Contact Us (S-Bond Technologies) or look to our collaborative partner, Momentive for their innovative TPG core thermal management materials and devices.

*TPG is a trademark of Momentive Performance Materials Inc.

Momentive and the Momentive logo are trademarks of Momentive Performance Materials Inc.

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Pyrolytic – Graphite Thermal Management

APPLICATIONS