Electronic components such as semiconductor chips are becoming progressively smaller, while at the same time heat dissipation requirements thereof are increasing. Commonly, a thermal interface material is utilized between the electronic component and a heat sink in order to efficiently dissipate heat generated by the electronic component.
A conventional thermal interface material is made by diffusing particles with a high heat conduction coefficient in a base material. The particles can be made of graphite, boron nitride, silicon oxide, alumina, silver, or other metals. However, a heat conduction coefficient of the thermal interface material is now considered to be too low for many contemporary applications, because it cannot adequately meet the heat dissipation requirements of modern electronic components.
An article entitled “Unusually High Thermal Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes” and authored by Savas Berber (page 4613, Vol. 84, Physical Review Letters 2000) discloses that a heat conduction coefficient of a carbon nanotube can be 6600W/m·K (watts/meter·Kelvin) at room temperature.
A kind of thermal interface material which conducts heat by using carbon nanotubes has been developed. The thermal interface material is formed by injection molding, and has a plurality of carbon nanotubes incorporated in a matrix material. A first surface of the thermal interface material engages with an electronic device, and a second surface of the thermal interface material engages with a heat sink. The second surface has a larger area than the first surface, so that heat can be uniformly spread over the larger second surface. But the thermal interface material formed by injection molding is relatively thick. This increases a bulk of the thermal interface material and reduces its flexibility. Furthermore, the carbon nanotubes are disposed in the matrix material randomly and multidirectionally. This means that heat does not necessarily spread uniformly through the thermal interface material. In addition, the heat does not necessarily spread directly from the first surface engaged with the electronic device to the second surface engaged with the heat sink.
A method for producing aligned carbon nanotube thermal interface structure is provided. In a batch process, a capacitor is immersed in a bath containing a slurry of thermoplastic polymer containing randomly oriented carbon nanotubes and energized to create an electrical field to orient the carbon nanotubes prior to curing.
However, the enhanced value for the thermal interface structure's thermal conductivity is still not satisfactory. An important reason is probably rest with the existence of thermal interface resistances between the overlaps in the carbon nanotube passage of the thermal interface structure, and this would lead to a rapid increase in the overall thermal resistance.
Therefore, a thermal interface material with good thermal conductivity and a method for manufacturing such a material are desired.