Squashy thermal pad achieves 8.3W/m.K

“With the highest available thermal conductivity in its product family, ‘PAD 80’ maintains low compression forces and conformability between mating surfaces,” said Chomerics. “Very low compression force means the product will deflect under assembly pressure, minimising stress on components, soldered joints and PCB leads.”

It comes in standard thicknesses from 0.5 to 5.1 mm and is available in sheets or cut to custom part sizes. For easy assembly, a version pre-coated with an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive is available, delivered on aluminium foil.

The material exhibits low silicone oil bleeding, claims the company, minimising the potential for greasy residues on heatsinks or other surfaces, and it passes NASA’s outgassing requirements and General Motor’s GMW reliability test.

The gap filler is an insulator, with 5kVac/mm dielectric strength, and operation is over -55 to +200°C.

Typically it is used with between 5% and 40% compression – force to compress a ~3mm pad is 34kPa for 13% deflection, 69kPa for 25%, 172kPa for 50% and 345kPa for 64%. electronics Weekly has asked at what deflection the 8.3W/m.K conductivity is achieved – watch this space.

Use is foreseen in 5G and telecom equipment, smart home devices, automotive electronics including ADAS modules and vehicle chargers, power supplies, and GPUs and CPUs in computers and servers.

The PAD 80 data sheet can be found here