Recent progress of thermal interface material research - an overview

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent progress of research work performed to develop new thermal interface materials. The review starts by classifying existing thermal interface materials and analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. The state of the art research is then reviewed with an emphasis on those materials based on various carbon allotropes, such as graphite, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and fibers. Other kinds of fillers with high thermal conductivity, such as silicon carbide, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, silver and other metals, have also been extensively studied. These materials are also reviewed in this paper. Besides the achievements in materials development, other methods have also been developed to further reduce the overall interface resistance, such as modifying the surfaces of the integrated chips or heat sinks. This aspect is also discussed in this paper. The paper is summarized with a perspective on the future technical trends.