Mechanical Characterization of Thermal Interface Materials and Its Challenges

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) play a vital role in the performance of electronic packages by enabling improved heat dissipation. These materials typically have high thermal conductivity and are designed to offer a lower thermal resistance path for efficient heat transfer. For some semiconductor components, thermal solutions are attached directly to the bare silicon die using TIM materials, while other components use an integrated heat spreader (IHS) attached on top of the die(s) and the thermal solution attached on top of the IHS. For cases with an IHS, two TIM materials are used—TIM1 is applied between the silicon die and IHS and TIM2 is used between IHS and thermal solution. TIM materials are usually comprised of a polymer matrix with thermally conductive fillers such as silica, aluminum, alumina, boron nitride, zinc oxide, etc. The polymer matrix wets the contact surface to lower the contact resistance, while the fillers help reduce the bulk resistance by increasing the bulk thermal conductivity. TIM thickness varies by application but is typically between 25 μm and around 250 μm. Selection of appropriate TIM1 and TIM2 materials is necessary for the reliable thermal performance of a product over its life and end-use conditions. It has been observed that during reliability testing, TIM materials are prone to degradation which in turn leads to a reduction in the thermal performance of the product. Typical material degradation is in the form of hardening, compression set, interfacial delamination, voiding, or excessive bleed-out. Therefore, in order to identify viable TIM materials, characterization of the thermomechanical behavior of these materials becomes important. However, developing effective metrologies for TIM characterization is difficult for two reasons: TIM materials are very soft, and the sample thickness is very small. Therefore, a well-designed test setup and a repeatable sample preparation and test procedure are needed to overcome these challenges and to obtain reliable data. In this paper, we will share some of the TIM characterization techniques developed for TIM material down-selection. The focus will be on mechanical characterization of TIM materials—including modulus, compression set, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), adhesion strength, and pump-out/bleed-out measurement techniques. Also, results from several TIM formulations, such as polymer TIMs and thermal gap pads, will be shared.