Vol.004 - Pad, Paste, Tape or ? Choosing the Right TIM
How to Choose a TIM? Start with Those “Last Few Degrees” Stuck at the Interface In many thermal designs, the fans, heatsinks, and heat pipes are all in place, simulations look fine, and on paper “the heat should be dissipated.” Yet in practice, junction temperature still stops just a few degrees away from your target. At that point, the problem is often not the heatsink itself, but the interface —that seemingly thin but crucial layer of Thermal Interface Material (TIM) between the chip and the heatsink. What a TIM Really Does: Kicking the Air Out The actual job of a TIM is very simple in principle. Even if the chip and heatsink surfaces look flat and tightly mated, only a small portion of the microscopic asperities are truly in contact. Most of the gaps are filled with air—and air is a very poor thermal conductor. A TIM’s role is to displace the air in those gaps and replace it with a much more efficient heat transfer path, thereby reducing the thermal resistance at the contact...