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KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Thermal properties of Thermal Interface Materials

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Malesh Shah Reshav Shrestha
Department of Mechanical Engg. Roll no:24
Department of Chemical Engg

For partial fulfillment of the requirement of the curriculum of Heat Transfer.

Submission Date: 7/10/021
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Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

1. Thermal Interface Materials…………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Aluminum Nitride as Thermal Interface Material…………………………………………………………………
3. Graphene as Thermal Interface Material……………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Thermal Conductivity of Thermal Interface Material

Introduction

“Number of transistors in a integrated circuit doubles every two years” is the statement of Moore’s
law and our technology has been in a unison with the statement for a long time. With more transistor
packed in electronic devices and miniaturization of IC, thermal management has been a critical issue
that affects device performance and durability especially in in high power devices such as high power
diode lasers, high-brightness light emitting diodes, high power transistors and semiconductors. The
heat generated by these devices needs to be dissipated effectively to ensure its optimal efficiency and
thermal management cannot be overlooked because proper transfer of heat is indispensable for
aborting short circuit. A tremendous amount of heat is generated when devices operate and the fact
that devices are getting more powerful as size decreases mandates proper thermal management. For
example, a CPU from Inter Corp. ( Pentium 2) was 25.4 mm square and the power dissipation was
about 33 W. However, the Pentium 4 is 12.5 mm square and will dissipate up to 80 W.[1,2]
Traditionally, heat dissipation is usually done by heat sink. However, there is limitation to heat
dissipation by heat sink due to interface thermal resistance arising from the mismatch surface,
waviness and surface roughness from both device and heat sink. Thermal Interface
Materials(TIM)are the primarily used for the heat dissipation which may be thin film, matrix of
polymer composites or metallic fillers. Thermal Interface material essentially bonds the contact
surface of source and sink decreasing thermal resistance at contact point and flattens out waviness
and surface roughness. Thermal Interface Materials are compounds for maximizing heat dissipation
inserted between two components generally a heat producing device and heat dissipating device i.e.
heat sink .Heat dissipates from an electronic package through conduction across the interface of the
CPU, through a TIM, into a heat sink and then convection to the environment. The use of TIM’s has
been rising lately due to its heat removal efficiency, affordability and reliability. To ensure optimum
performance and dependability, a well-designed thermal management system will keep
temperatures within acceptable ranges and TIM’s may be one of the prerequisites.
TIMs may be of much importance due to the nature of interface i.e mating surface. The
semiconductor may look smooth on the surface but actually on a microscope level they are porous.
This porosity holds off small packets of air and air is a bad thermal conductor. Air hinders the heat
dissipation causing thermal issues. Generally, many interfaces exist between the source and sink.
These interfaces consists solders ,adhesives, permanent bonds but often a non permanent interface
which will take part in heat transfer. When surface of two material contact, due to the micro-scale
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surface roughness and waviness, there is a small region of actual

mechanical contact between the two surfaces at this interface. This will
affect the heat conduction across the interface as there will be tiny
pockets of gaps filled with air which has low thermal conductivity and
increasing thermal resistance. TIMs generally have high liquidity and can
fill the gaps of mating surfaces. [1]

Discussion
1.Thermal Interface Materials
Extensive research shows that TIM’s influence cannot be undermined in
thermal management of electronic circuits. The porosity caused by
irregularities and waviness can be filled or minimized with different
types of TIMs for enhanced heat flow. TIMs generally include thermal grease, Figure 1: showing roughness and
thermal fluids, solders and phase changing material. These TIMs are waviness between two contacting
sandwiched between mating surfaces.[5] surfaces(Sarvar, David C. Whalley,2006).

(Ajay Sahu et al.,2017)[3] has mentioned some properties that an ideal TIMs
should constitute high thermal conductivity, low viscosity, high electric insulation, low thermal
resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion, non toxic, maintenance friendly, low cost and
material must be soft enough to be easily deformed by contact pressure to fill all the gaps between
mating surfaces . Among the different TIM thermal grease is garnering some attention. Thermal
greases or paste are fillers which may be metallic, carbon or ceramics based. They are often paired
a polymer base to be used as TIM. Various metallic filler such as Ni, Cu or Al have been widely used
as filler. Carbon based materials such as graphite, diamond, carbon nanotubes etc. have been studied
as good conductive filler because of their high conductivity. Although metallic and carbon fillers
exhibit thermal conductivity of more than 10W/m.K , they have few caveats: not enough electrical
insulation, not too readily available and economic concerns.
Ceramic fillers has been on the rise due to it’s exquisite properties as
thermal interface material as compared to their counterpart .These fillers
are often paired with polymer base typically epoxy resins to form a
composite. Diamond, beryllia (BeO), boron nitride (BN), aluminum nitride
(AlN), and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) are commonly used ceramic fillers. All
these composites are thermally conductive but some of them have some
setbacks. Diamond is too expensive, BeO is toxic, thermal conductivity of
Al2O3 is much lower than that of AIN or BN. Boron Nitride has different
conductivity depending upon structures and AIN has single thermal Figure 2 Thermal interface material
inserted between the two contacting
conductivity and more commercially viable. So, Aluminum Nitride has bodies
emerged as a promising choice since it meets many of the criteria for a
substrate TIM in addition to having high thermal conductivity ,it fulfills other criteria: thermal
expansion equivalent to silicon, good electrical insulation, good mechanical properties, low dielectric
constant and non-toxicity. [7]
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Its been generally accepted that transfer of heat in non metals occurs by phonos or lattice vibration.
The reason for thermal resistance is due to various phonon scattering process e.g. boundary
scattering, phonon-phonon scattering. The primary reason for scattering of phonon is due to
interfacial barriers from acoustic flaws and mismatch with filler matrix composites. TIM provides
effective pathway for phonon scattering improving thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity
of a composite can be increased by decreasing contact resistance at the interface, decreasing thermal
resistance at the junction of filler-polymer composites. [6]

2.Aluminum Nitride as Thermal Interface Material

Aluminum Nitride(AIN) exhibits excellent thermal conductivity with good electric insulation and
qualifies as a good thermal interface material among other ceramic filers like Boron Nitride(BN).
The theoretical thermal conductivity of AIN single crystal is 320 W/ K.m [8]. Lately, AIN is getting
some attention for its effectiveness as filler in epoxy based polymer. AIN filled epoxy polymer has
proved to be good thermal conductor, good electric insulation and less viscous so thermal resistance
is at minimum. Epoxy resin is very good at electric insulation but has low thermal conductivity.
(Hui Yu et al .,2011) conducted an experiment on AIN-epoxy matrix by high solid loadings of
AIN.Epoxy was taken as polymer matrix with AIN in powder. Three silane coupling agents (KH-550,
KH-560, and KH-792) were used having a purity of over 97%. Coupling agents chemically bonds
dissimilar materials. A low viscosity is required when a composite is used as TIM in high power
device to prevent spillover if placed vertically. Coupling agent helps in reducing viscosity and
provides effective pathway for phonon transport. A low viscosity is required to maintain liquidity so,
surface treatment of AIN filler is done [4].

Figure 3 thermal conductivity of AIN at different volume Figure 4: Viscosity of different coupling agents at
loading with coupling agents maximum AIN volume.
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Figure 3 represents the thermal conductivity of TIM samples at different volume loading of AIN in
a epoxy-AIN composite polymer. Thermal conductivity of AIN composite at 60% maximum solid
loading using coupling agent KH-560 increased to 2.70 W/ m.K which is 13 times greater than pure
epoxy resin at 0.21 W/m . K . Different coupling agents are added to minimalize the effect of viscosity.
AIN is able to fill 60% into epoxy when KH-560 is used because it reduced viscosity while other
agents didn’t as much as KH-560 (Figure 4). The shaded and non shaded bars represent before and
after 99 thermal shock cycle. Without surface treatment , AIN fillers had maximum loading at 50%
due to increasing viscosity of mixture at a higher loading. The percentage of coupling agent ranges
from 1-5% [4].
(Lee et al.,2008) studied on dispersion of high volume AIN in epoxy resin by the process of two layer
silane surfactant. High solid loading of around 57% was achieved with proper distribution of AIN
powder in epoxy by using combination of coupling agent i.e silane and dispersants. Methyl
trimethylsilylacetate (S32) and trimethylsilyl propionic acid (S42) was used as silane without further
purification as they are 97% pure and BYK-W-9010 was used as dispersant [7].

Fig 5a: Relative TC (Kc/Km) and absolute TC of AIN-

epoxy matrix treated with S32 and BYK
Fig 5b: Thermal Conductivity of surface treated AIN
fillers with different coupling agents

Thermal Conductivity of AIN-epoxy composites was measured by hot disk method. Figure 5a shows
as AIN filler concentration increases thermal conductivity increases linearly. Kc and Km are
conductivities of AIN and epoxy matrix respectively. The coupling agent S32 and dispersant BYK was
used at 2 wt% and 1 wt% resepectively. Figure5a demonstrates , as volume of the loading increases,
conductivity increases too. The maximum thermal conductivity for Kc achieved is 3.39 W/mK at 57%
volume which is 15 times higher than pure epoxy. Figure 5b shows there seem to be no significant
change in thermal conductivity at 57% volume between S32 and S42. This may be due to less
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scattering of phonons as the surface monolayer of saline is too thin scatter phonon so conduction is
not affected by surface layer [7].
There are some theoretical model that could predict and co-relate the thermal conductivity of two
phased composites. There were several factors that were taken into consideration when proposing
these models like particle shape and size and solid loading. One of the models suggested by (Lee et
al.,2008) is Agari and Uno model. (Agari et al.,1986 put forward a model that could predict thermal
conductivity of an AIN and epoxy system. The model was:

log 𝑘𝐶 = 𝜙𝑓 ⋅ 𝐶2 ⋅ log 𝑘𝑓 + (1 − 𝜙𝑓 ) ⋅ log(𝐶1 ⋅ 𝑘𝑚 )

𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑘𝐶 = (𝐶2 ⋅ 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑘𝑓 − 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝐶1 ⋅ 𝑘𝑚 )𝜙𝑓 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝐶1 ⋅ 𝑘𝑚 )

where C1 and C2 are adjustable constant, kc is thermal

conductivity of composite, km of matrix, kf of filler and Φf is
volume of filler.[9]
Maxwell, Meredith, Bruggeman are some other models but
aren’t as accurate as Agari and Uno which is quite evident
from the figure. Agari and Uno model predicted the thermal
conductivity quite right because it considered particles size
which some of other model ignored and C1 and C2 are
adjustable constant determined experimentally [7].

3. Graphene as TIM
Graphene is two dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting
of single layered atoms with hexagonal structure in sp2-hybridized orientation. The superior thermal
conductivity of graphene- 2000 W/mk to 5200 W/ mk has attracted a lot of research and a possible
filler in polymer composite TIM. [10]
(Wei Yu et al.,2015) took alumina Al2O3 with a purity of 99.5% with diameter of particles ranging
from 0.7μm and 5μm. Graphite was oxidized into graphite oxide by improved Hummers method and
then the graphene was obtained through exfoliation of graphite oxide by thermal shock. Then, hybrid
size alumina, silicone base and graphene were mixed at speed dispenser at mentioned parameters
[10].

Figure 5 Comparison between thermal

conductivity of thermal grease with and
without graphene
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Above figure describes enhancement in thermal conductivity when graphene is used in combination
with alumina filler. This is due to creation of open pathways for phonon transportation by graphene.
Alumina-graphene composite achieved maximum thermal conductivity of 3.4 W/mK at volume of
63% and can be used as possible TIM.

Conclusion
A thermal interface material with aluminum nitride filled epoxy resin base has quite decent thermal
conductivity and can be a possible solution for thermal management in high power devices and IC.
Addition of silane coupling agent KH-560 had enhanced thermal conductivity and reduced viscosity
which was proven by increased solid loading to 60%. Thermal Conductivity of 2.70 W/mK was
attained which was 13 times greater than pure epoxy. Another findings showed experimentation on
silane pretreatment followed by second layer dispersant. This improved the dispersion of AIN
particles in epoxy. Thermal conductivity was increased to 3.39 W/mK with high solid loadings of
57%. Finally, graphene too had respectable conductivity of 3.4 W/mK and can be a possible thermal
interface material.
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Refrences
[1] Sarvar, F., Whalley, D.C. and Conway, P.P., 2006, September. Thermal interface materials-A
review of the state of the art. In 2006 1st electronic systemintegration technology conference (Vol. 2,
pp. 1292-1302). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ESTC.2006.280178
[2] Gwinn, J.P. and Webb, R.L., 2003. Performance and testing of thermal interface
materials. MicroelectronicsJournal, 34(3),pp.215-2https://doi.org/10.1016/S0026-2692(02)00191-
X
[3] Sahu, A., Mondloe, D.S. and Upadhyay, S., 2017. A review on thermal properties of epoxy
composites as thermal interface material. Int. Res. J. Eng. Technol, 4, pp.579-586.
[4] Yu, H., Li, L., Kido, T., Xi, G., Xu, G. and Guo, F., 2012. Thermal and insulating properties of
epoxy/aluminum nitride composites used for thermal interface material. Journal of Applied Polymer
Science, 124(1), pp.669-677. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.35016
[5] Chung, D.D.L., 2001. Thermal interface materials. Journal of Materials Engineering and
Performance, 10(1), pp.56-59. https://doi.org/10.1361/105994901770345358

[6] Xu, Y., Chung, D.D.L. and Mroz, C., 2001. Thermally conducting aluminum nitride polymer-
matrix composites. Composites Part A: Applied science and manufacturing, 32(12), pp.1749-1757.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-835X(01)00023-9
[7] Lee, E.S., Lee, S.M., Shanefield, D.J. and Cannon, W.R., 2008. Enhanced thermal conductivity of
polymer matrix composite via high solids loading of aluminum nitride in epoxy resin. Journal of the
American Ceramic Society, 91(4), pp.1169-1174.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-2916.2008.02247.x
[8] Watari, K., Ishizaki, K. and Fujikawa, T., 1992. Thermal conduction mechanism of aluminium
nitride ceramics. Journal of materials science, 27(10), pp.2627-2630.
[9] Agari, Y. and Uno, T., 1986. Estimation on thermal conductivities of filled polymers. Journal of
Applied Polymer Science, 32(7), pp.5705-5712.
[10] Yu, W., Xie, H., Yin, L., Zhao, J., Xia, L. and Chen, L., 2015. Exceptionally high thermal conductivity
of thermal grease: Synergistic effects of graphene and alumina. International Journal of Thermal
Sciences, 91, pp.76-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2015.01.006
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