Component Level Testing of Application Specific Conditions for Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Thermal Interface Materials

A common issue with thermal interface materials (TIM) raised by engineers is that vendor data do not match the results obtained from actual applications. Typical reasons for these issues may be vendor variations in testing, such as variances in test procedure and set up, the test conditions of the test fixture, such as completely flat contact surfaces, and manufacturing variations in the TIM. This study compares vendor data with results obtained from both realistic and ideal test conditions under consistent test method and uniform test conditions.

This study examines the performance of thermal pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) TIMs, and compares the thermal impedance of various materials from multiple vendors. Both flat and non-flat surfaces are used to examine the differences under ideal condition to that of more realistic in actual applications. Effects of material thickness, surface flatness, and adhesive curing are discussed along with comparisons of performance for the different materials and the resulting discrepancies to the vendor specified data are examined.