High-performance, safe, and reliable soft-metal thermal pad for thermal management of electronics

A high-performance, safe, and reliable soft-metal thermal pad is proposed for the thermal management of electronics. The thermal conductivity of this soft-metal thermal pad is five times higher than traditional silicone-based thermal pads, and its contact thermal resistance is much lower. In addition, compared with cutting-edge liquid metal thermal pads, this soft-metal thermal pad can effectively solve the melting and leakage problems of liquid metal because it has a high melting point and does not melt below 100 °C. Accelerated experiments demonstrated that the soft-metal thermal pad could operate stably at 250 °C for 100 h, thereby ensuring high reliability and durability. Moreover, a thermal cycling experiment of 100 cycles verified the stability of this soft-metal thermal pad under the start-stop conditions of electronics. Experiments on a real computer showed the outstanding cooling performance of the soft-metal thermal pad and 20 assembly-disassembly actions did not negatively affect its heat transfer capability. Because this soft-metal thermal pad is not associated with organic volatilization effect, it can replace conventional thermal grease in electronics and offer both outstanding performance and longer life. In conclusion, the proposed soft-metal thermal pad demonstrates high cooling performance, excellent reliability, long life, and good usability. It can serve as a practical solution for high heat flux density electronics, particularly in the military and aerospace fields.