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Packaging Liquid Metal Thermal Interface MaterialsPosted by Amanda M. HartnettWednesday, October 15th, 2008 |
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Liquid metals containing gallium are not simple to handle, but there are ways to do it, and anyone I know who has worked with these materials and handled them correctly, is pleased with the results they received. As explained in my previous post, the thermal performance of liquid metals is superior to all other commercially viable alternatives.
As a liquid metal with low flow stress, the liquid metal thermal interface materials are required to be specially packaged into an application to prevent leakage. Since gallium-containing liquid metals are corrosive to some materials and stick to others, the packaging materials must be carefully chosen.
A set of materials that I have worked with which were compatible with all the liquid metals are the Dupont Krytox products. There are a number of forms that these materials can be produced in, but the chemistry in any of these products makes them a good material fo r a dam surrounding the liquid metal.
These materials can be engineered for applications in both TIM1 and TIM2 applications.
