Demonstration of a High Thermal Conductivity Air Cooled Heat Sink using Carbon Nanotube Composite

This proposal will demonstrate a composite material containing aligned carbon nanotubes with thermal conductivity far in excess of traditional copper or aluminum. A unique process for fabricating the aligned carbon nanotubes (CNT) into to a very highlyloaded CNT porous composite will be demonstrated in Phase I. Limited thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer experiments will be performed to demonstrate the improvements. The aligned Carbon Nanotube Composite (CNC) will be fabricated into anair-cooled heat sink and demonstrated. In addition to the potential for a thermal conductivity that approaches graphite (6600 W/mK, compared to 390 W/mK for copper), the CNC heat sink is ideal for direct chemical bonding to solid-state electronic devices,thereby eliminating interfacial thermal resistance. This extremely high thermal conductivity material is ideal as a heat-spreading device, which can ultimately be fabricated into air-cooled heat sinks and chemically bonded directly to GaN components aswell as other high energy density electronics. Phase I will demonstrate a high thermal conductivity composite heat sink composed of aligned carbon nanotubes with enhanced thermal conductivity, enhanced convective heat transfer, and improved interfacethermal conductance. Phase I will include manufacturing techniques, design specifications, experimental data and cost analysis.This effort will experimentally demonstrate the performance of a thermally conductive material that can be fabricated into air cooled heat sinks and related thermal devices to provide a heat flux capability that far exceeds traditional copper or aluminummaterials. The proposed material would be applicable to all types of air-cooled heat sinks. In addition to the MDA applications, other potential applications include commercial or military electronics cooling (high-power electronics, supercomputers,electronic switchgear, and avionics). Mainstream has performed a commercialization study and the commercial potential is tremendous. A commercialization partner has been secured as well as Phase II matching funds.