It is vital to have the most suitable interface material to address or your design parameters.
In addition to our standard Interface products, Cooling Source works with a variety of Thermal Interface Material suppliers including Chomerics, Laird, Bergquist, Honeywell and Fujipoly.
Each thermal interface material supplier we work with offers global support for a variety of Thermal Interface Materials.
We can assist you in designing-in the correct interface material for your specific application.
Double Sided PSA
- Pressure Sensitive Adhesive used to adhere heatsink to the heat source
- Easy to assemble, pull tabs available on most materials
- Need to select a specific tape for mounting surface i.e. metal, plastic, ceramic, silicon, etc. Typically .005 – 0.10” thick
Single Sided PSA (SSA Single Sided Adhesive, alternative terminology)
- Provides Interface adhered to the heatsink only
- Mechanical fastening of the heatsink is needed i.e push pins, wire clips, band clips, screws, plastic clip, etc. Typically .005 –o.10” thick
- Graphite- Commonly used on AC/DC converters, usually .005” and .10” thick
PCM
- Phase Change Material, higher performance TIM that reflows with heat to fill all the interface voids, difficult to apply, usually supplied with a pull tab/release liner. Typically 0.002 -0.004” thick
Gap Filler
- Typically .200” and thicker pad with some compressibility, used to fill varying gap sized, mechanical fastening is required
Epoxy
- Thermally loaded filler adhesive system, provides permanent and strong mechanical attachment
- Often not favored by assemblers due the possible prep work and inability to rework
Grease
- Excellent thermals, void filling capability and very thin interface, mechanical attachment required, contamination. Typically .001” – 0.002” thick
- Can be silk screened on by the factory but parts need covers to prevent dust and dirt contamination. Typically .001” -.002” thick
Pull Tabs
- Release liner feature which makes assembly much easier, not available on all TIM’s
