Conducting the Heat

Heat conduction plays an important role in the efficiency and life span of electronic components. To keep electronic components running efficiently and at a proper temperature, thermal management systems transfer heat generated from the components to thermal surfaces such as heat sinks, heat pipes, radiators, or heat spreaders. Thermal surfaces absorb the heat from the electrical components and dissipate it into the environment, preventing overheating. To ensure the best contact between electrical components and thermal surfaces, thermal interface materials are applied. In addition to having high conductivity, ideal thermal interface materials should be compliant to conform to the components, increasing the surface contact. While many different types of interface materials exist for varying purposes, Energy Science Laboratories, Inc. (ESLI), of San Diego, California, proposed using carbon velvets as thermal interface materials for general aerospace and electronics applications. NASA s Johnson Space Center granted ESLI a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop thermal interface materials that are lightweight and compliant, and demonstrate high thermal conductance even for nonflat surfaces. Through Phase II SBIR work, ESLI created Vel-Therm for the commercial market. Vel-Therm is a soft, carbon fiber velvet consisting of numerous high thermal conductivity carbon fibers anchored in a thin layer of adhesive. The velvets are fabricated by precision cutting continuous carbon fiber tows and electrostatically flocking the fibers into uncured adhesive, using proprietary techniques.