Evaluation of a Thermal Interface Material Fabricated Using Thermocompression Bonding of Carbon Nanotube Turf

In this work, the use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) as thermal interface materials is presented. The VACNT structure is fabricated on 4×4 mm silicon substrates using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). These VACNT structures can be transferred to other substrates using a thermocompression bonding process; the process transfers the VACNTs to metalized silicon die which are tested after that as thermal interface materials. Two configurations of VACNTs were tested: one with a full coverage of VACNTs and one with patterned VACNTs. For the full coverage turf a thermal interface resistance as low as 1.082 cm²K/W was obtained, while a thermal interface resistance of 0.044 cm²K/W was obtained for the patterned turfs.