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THERMAL MANAGEMENT MATERIALS

Managing Heat for Improved Performance

Advanced Thermal Interface Materials (TIM)

The past few decades have seen an escalation of power densities in electronic devices, power electronics and next generation vehicle electronics. Together with the continuing trend of reduction in device dimensions this has led to dramatic increase in thermal issues within electronic circuits.

Thermal management is therefore becoming increasingly more critical and fundamental to ensuring that electronic devices operate within their specification.


The marketplace offers many material solutions to dissipate heat generated in circuit boards. The challenge is to find the best-suited thermal interface materials with favorable physical and thermal properties to help efficiently run vehicle electronics; as they must also be able to withstand thermal shock, physical vibration and challenging environmental conditions.

Choosing the right Thermal Interface Materials is crucial for the device efficiency, performance and reliability. Instead of sophisticated cooling technique, it is often better to invest in the interface material.

The most appropriate choice of thermal interface material has been shown to:

  • Reduce total cost of ownership
  • Optimize your thermal management system for performance and price
  • Increase reliability and operational lifetime

Anticipating this trend, Momentive has a key focus on developing products with enhanced thermal management properties.

Purpose of Thermal Interface Materials (TIM)

Heat generated by high power semiconductors has to flow through a number of different material layers and interfaces before it reaches the heatsink or coolant. Thermal interface materials displace air gaps to enhance the thermal contact between layers.

Momentive Thermal Interface Materials Comparison
Momentive Thermal Interface Materials Comparison

The performance of the interface is determined by the thermal resistance (Rth) between the junction and heatsink. Thermal Resistance is influenced by 3 factors:

  1. Thermal conductivity (λ) - A measure of a material’s ability to conduct heat as measured in Watts per meter-Kelvin (W/mK).
  2. Bond Line Thickness - A lower BLT will decrease the thermal resistance and ultimately improve thermal performance.
  3. Contact Resistance - Due to surface roughness and manufacturing processes, the substrate and heatsink can have many microscopic voids in the contact area with adjacent materials. These voids are air gaps which have very poor thermal conductivity (λ Air ≈ 0.03W/mK). To minimize microscopic air gaps, thermal interface materials decrease contact resistance and help conduct heat away from the substrate.

Momentive has a broad portfolio of thermal interface management solutions 

Momentive Thermal Interface Solutions

Applications

automotive electronics

  • Powertrain (conventional or electrified)
  • Hybrid vehicle electronics and system devices
  • Electric control units
  • 48V system devices
  • Electric drive units
  • Inverter system and DC/DC converter
  • Battery packs and modules
  • On-board charger
  • IGBT power modules
  • Electric power steering
  • Autonomous driving systems
  • Body electronics
  • Lighting applications
  • Car multimedia systems
  • Navigation and telematics systems
  • Premium instrument clusters

SilCool* Thermal Adhesives - (ranging from 0.7WmK to 3.5WmK)

Momentive’s SilCool Thermal Adhesives combine adhesion and bond strength with heat excellent management and replace expensive and complex processing of screws and fasteners.

Key Features

  • Bonds with many substrates without primer
  • Good structural adhesion
  • Remains flexible post-cure for vibration and stress absorption
Product T/C (WmK) Cure Condition 1 Adhesion Values (MPa)
SilCool TIA250RZ 2.5 30 min. @ 120° C 4.5
SilCool TIA350R 3.5 30 min. @ 120° C 1.0
SilCool XE11-B5320 1.3 TFT 5 min. @ RT 1.4
Snapsil* TN3085 0.7 TFT 7 min. @ RT .001

(1) RT = Room Temperature

Product properties average data and are not to be used as or to develop specifications


SilCool Thermal Gap Fillers & Curable Compounds (ranging from 2.5WmK to 10WmK)

Momentive’s SilCool thermal gap fillers are thixotropic thermally conductive silicone materials that are designed to dissipate heat from electronic devices. The soft nature of these materials enables stress relief during thermal cycling and vibration.

Key Features

  • Excellent thermal conductivity
  • Fast, low temperature cure
  • Helps provide stress relief during thermal cycling
  • Fills air gaps and voids to enhance heat transfer
  • Conforms to complex, 3-dimensional designs
  • Non-adhesive and repairable
Product T/C (WmK) Cure Condition 1 Min. BLT 2
SilCool TIA225GF 2.5 30m @ 70°C / 24h @ RT 90-100µ
SilCool TIA241GF 4.1 30m @ 100°C / 24h @ RT 80µ
SilCool TIA268GF 6.8 30m @ 70°C / 24h @ RT 75µ
SilCool TIS420C 4.2 TFT 30m @ RT 55µ

(1) TFT = Tack Free Time, RT = Room Temperature
(2) BLT = Bond Line Thickness

Product properties average data and are not to be used as or to develop specifications

Thermal Compounds and Pastes

Momentive's SilCool Thermal Compounds and Pastes combine excellent thermal conductivity with outstanding workability and very low thermal resistance.

Key Features

  • Easy processing in high volume screen printing, manufacturing 
  • High thermal conductivity
  • Improved pump/dry out
  • Wide operating temperature range
  • Minimal weight loss at elevated temperatures
  • Repairability
Product Thermal Cond. (WmK) Viscosity(Pas) Min. BLT (1)
TIG210BX 2.1 250 45µ 
TIG300BX 3.0 200 45µ 
TIG400BX 4.0 350 55µ 
TIG830SP 4.10 300 20µ 

(1) BLT = Bond Line Thickness

Product properties average data and are not to be used as or to develop specifications

Thermal Encapsulants and Potting Materials (ranging from 1.3WmK to 2.2WmK)

Momentive’s SilCool Thermal Encapsulants and Potting materials combines low stress features with excellent thermal conductivity. The materials were designed for optimum flowability into complex or small cavities and outstanding reliability performance.

Key Features

  • Convenient 1:1 mix ratio and very good flowability
  • Low Modulus over a wide operating temperature (preventing core cracking)
  • Heat accelerated or room temperature cure
  • Outstanding Reliability Performance
  • Non corrosive to metal
Product Thermal Cond. (WmK) Cure Condition(1) Viscosity (Pas)
SilCool TIA208R 0.8 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 4.2
SilCool TIA213G 1.3 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 5.0
SilCool TIA216G 1.8 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 8
SilCool TIA222G 2.2 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 20
SilCool TIA219R 1.9 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 8
SilCool TP-2-1600 1.6 30m @ 70°C / 24h at RT 7.5

(1) TFT = Tack Free Time, RT = Room Temperature

Product properties average data and are not to be used as or to develop specifications

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*The marks followed by a TM symbol are trademarks of Momentive Performance Materials Inc.