Society today is fuelled by an almost incessant demand for more data and greater connectivity, with the electronics technology that is needed to support this having to progress accordingly. The semiconductor business’ continued adherence to Moore’s Law means that each new microprocessor generation which is introduced gets considerably smaller in size, while also becoming increasingly complex (packed with hundreds of millions of transistors). These two factors combine to greatly escalate the density of generated heat found in proximity to these chips. In order to counter this, the mechanisms employed in the removal of such heat need to become far more efficient, otherwise its presence will compromise system reliability levels and shorten the operational lifespans that can be achieved.
Engineer teams now face the challenge of finding more effective ways to dissipate heat from their designs. Conventional heat sink solutions no longer offer the necessary thermal performance figures to deal with the heat intensity being witnessed. In addition, they are often too cumbersome to be implemented within the sleeker, more compact enclosures that are now desired for consumer, telecom and even industrial applications.
VersarienCu, from Gloucestershire start up Versarien, presents the electronics industry with a way to overcome their heat removal problems. This innovative copper-based thermal interface material consists of a homogeneous distribution of micro-fine, open cell, interconnected pores. It closely emulates structures that are found in nature (such as sponge, coral and bone) in order to maximise the amount of surface area available for heat removal. This allows heat dissipation levels to be augmented – with a thermal transfer coefficient of up to 200kW/m2K being delivered (more than 10 times better than what can be reached via conventional micro-channel heat sinks of equivalent size).
The material is made from 99.7% pure, gas-atomised copper powder with a nominal 50µm particle size – however the pore morphology can be set to fit specific application requirements, with diameters from 20µm to 1.5mm able to be specified. Overall porosity levels can also be altered to better fit specific needs, with a range from 50% to 80% being covered. Smaller pore sizes will heighten the heat transfer achievable, but this sort of implementation will at the same time demand a higher degree of pumping power so that the heat transfer fluid can pass through the material. Engineers can thus decide whether their design needs the extra heat dissipation made possible by such pore sizes or whether trade-offs can be made so that bill of materials costs involved are still kept low enough.
The intricate micro-porous metallic structure of the VersarienCu product is the result of a ground-breaking new proprietary process that was originally developed at the University of Liverpool. Through this four-phase Lost Carbonate Sintering (LCS) process, the material is exposed over a period of time to temperatures in excess of 1000°C. The optimised morphology subsequently produced results in a material that can enable a dramatic reduction in both heat sink weight and size. The smaller heat sink dimensions that it facilitates make it highly suited to use in space-constrained system design settings.
With the VersarienCu product, Versarien has, through its partnership with the University of Liverpool, brought a commercially viable, micro-porous metallic thermal interface material to market. It can be fabricated in high unit volumes at low cost – something that had proved very difficult for companies previously trying to offer a material of this kind, as the expense associated with production tended to be extremely prohibitive. VersarienCu is highly versatile and can therefore address the thermal management requirements of a wide range of different industry sectors. These include data communications equipment, renewable energy systems, power distribution infrastructure, aerospace, defence, automotive, transportation, gaming and motorsport.
With semiconductor technology becoming increasingly sophisticated and smaller form factors being utilised, the heat being generated at the board level of electronics designs will continue to rise at a staggering pace. The harm that this heat can do will impact heavily on overall system reliability. By taking inspiration from the natural world, a game-changing, open cell, porous thermal interface material has now been introduced onto the market that can offer the electronic engineering community a way to remove this unwanted heat from their design implementations and thereby ensure operational longevity. VersarienCu, through its micro-porous structure, has the capacity to radically change how heat dissipation is carried out in modern-day electronics, and through its use OEMs will be able to gain a valuable performance advantage over their rivals.
For more information please visit www.versarien.com
