An approach for an industrial method for the in-situ characterization of thermal interface materials

In this paper an approach for the in-situ testing of cutting-edge thermal interface materials (TIM-s) is presented. The novel method is based on existing measurement standards and allows quick and repeatable thermal conductivity measurements on newly developed nano-composite based thermal greases in an application-like environment. During the development of the measurement system both the effect of the quality of the material and the effect of the surface roughness of the DUT fixture on the actual results were taken into account. It is also explained how this method could be applied for the long term reliability testing of TIM-s before introducing them to the industry.