Free Webinar: How to Choose the Best Thermal Interface Materials for Your Heat Sink

Webinar teaches attendees how to understand and choose the best thermal interface materials to improve heat sink thermal performance; Thursday, November 17, 2PM EST.

Norwood, MA, November 13, 2011 --(PR.com)-- ATS’s latest webinar, “Understanding and Choosing the Best Thermal Interface Materials to Improve Heat Sink Thermal Performance” is being held November 17th, 2PM EST. There is no cost for attendees. ATS’s webinar will teach participants to overcome thermal challenges by making simple and cost-effective changes in thermal interface materials.

Thermal interface materials are an important part of an overall thermal management solution. The choice of one over another can have a significant impact as to how effective an electronics cooling solution is. That cooling is critical in electronics applications since inadequate cooling can lead to reduced performance and increased risk of failure.

The options for thermal interface material fall into four broad categories: grease, phase change material, thermal tape, and pads or gap fillers. Let’s take a brief look at each of these. ATS’s webinar on “Understanding and Choosing the Best Thermal Interface Materials” will cover these and more in greater depth and application context.

Thermal grease is among the higher performing of the thermal interface materials. Grease is 20-185x more thermally conductive than air. While great performing, thin and relatively low cost, it’s messy and does require a mechanical attachment for the heat sink. ATS just recently published a video on how to apply thermal grease. That video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/heatsinks#p/a/u/0/VlOy6SG5lbY

Phase change material (PCM) is basically a thermally conductive material in a foil encasement. PCM has performance that is very good at 20-125x more thermally conductive than air. It has high bond strength and is easy to apply. However, it too requires a mechanical attachment be used with a heat sink so that the PCM can be properly applied.

Thermal tape comes in at 20-40x more thermally conductive than air. It requires no mechanical fastener since the tape’s adhesive is its attachment. That simplifies application and assembly. But its performance is best for lower power processors between 15W to 20W.

Pads or gap fillers can range from 35-500x more thermally conductive than air. They also are a good solution to fill gaps between the heat sink and the target semiconductor. Areas for caution include difficulty in applying, low viscosity and relatively high cost.

Each of these thermal interface materials has a particular application and ATS’s thermal interface material webinar will equip engineers to understand and apply these and others. To register for this webinar, being held please visit: http://qats.com/Training/Webinars/7.aspx

###
Contact
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.
Andrea Koss
781-769-2800
www.qats.com
ContactContact
Categories