Thermal interface material assemblies
Exemplary embodiments are disclosed of thermal interface solutions for sliding surfaces. In an exemplary embodiment, a thermal interface material assembly includes a substrate having opposite first and second surfaces. An antifriction layer is along the first surface of the substrate. A thermal interface material is along the second surface of the substrate, such that the substrate is between the antifriction layer and the thermal interface material. The antifriction layer is configured to slide along in contact with a first surface of a first component when the thermal interface material assembly is along a second surface of a second component and when the first and second surfaces are slidably moved relative to each other.
1 . A thermal interface material assembly comprising:
a substrate having opposite first and second surfaces;
an antifriction layer along the first surface of the substrate; and
a thermal interface material along the second surface of the substrate, such that the substrate is between the antifriction layer and the thermal interface material;
wherein the antifriction layer is configured to have a lower coefficient of friction than the substrate;
wherein the thermal interface material has a higher thermal conductivity than each of the substrate and the antifriction layer;
wherein the antifriction layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene, molybdenum disulfide, graphite, polyethylene, polypropylene, aluminum oxide, boron nitride, calcium fluoride, tungsten carbide, and/or aluminum;
wherein the substrate comprises a polyimide film having a thermal conductivity within a range from 0.1 to 2 Watts per meter per Kelvin and a thickness within a range from 3 microns to 50 microns;
wherein a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) structure is disposed along edge portions of the thermal interface material, the PSA structure including first and second PSA strips along opposed edges parallel to a direction of sliding, the PSA structure adhesively attaches the TIM assembly to a second surface of a second component and defines a channel that laterally confines the thermal interface material between the opposed edges, wherein the substrate overlies and spans the channel and the first and second PSA strips to define a wear-resisting layer over the thermal interface material;
whereby the antifriction layer is configured to slide along in contact with a first surface of a first component when the thermal interface material assembly is along the second surface of the second component such that the substrate and the antifriction layer along the first surface of the substrate intervenes between the first surface of the first component and the thermal interface material along the second surface of the substrate thereby preventing direct contact between the thermal interface material and the first surface of the first component when the first surface of the first component and the second surface of the second component are slidably moved relative to each other.
2 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thermal interface material comprises a thermal phase change material.
3 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer is configured to have a coefficient of friction less than 0.25.
4 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and/or molybdenum disulfide as a dry-lubricant coating having a thickness within a range from 1 micron to 30 microns and a coefficient of friction less than 0.25.
5 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer comprises a dry lubricant applied along the first surface of the substrate and configured to slide along in contact with the first surface of the first component without leaving visible residue from the dry lubricant along the first surface of the first component after at least 500 sliding insertion/removal cycles at a temperature of 75° C. or above.
6 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer comprises molybdenum disulfide.
7 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene.
8 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the antifriction layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene and/or molybdenum disulfide; and
the antifriction layer is configured to have a coefficient of friction less than 0.25.
9 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein, when installed between a pluggable transceiver cage/housing and a connector plug received therein, the thermal interface material assembly provides a temperature reduction of at least 5° C. at 20 W relative to a configuration without the assembly and withstands at least 500 insertion/removal cycles without detachment or material transfer.
10 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein;
the antifriction layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and/or molybdenum disulfide as a dry-lubricant coating having a thickness within a range from 1 micron to 30 microns and a coefficient of friction less than 0.25;
the antifriction layer is configured not to transfer visible residue to the first component after at least 500 sliding insertion/removal cycles at a temperature of 75° C. or above; and
when installed between a pluggable transceiver cage/housing and a connector plug received therein, the thermal interface material assembly provides a temperature reduction of at least 5° C. at 20 W relative to a configuration without the assembly and withstands at least 500 insertion/removal cycles without detachment or material transfer.
11 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the antifriction layer comprises an antifriction coating along the first surface of the substrate, the antifriction coating comprising polytetrafluoroethylene and/or molybdenum disulfide, the antifriction layer having a coefficient of friction less than 0.25 and less than a coefficient of friction of the dielectric polyimide film; and
the thermal interface material comprises a thermal phase change material having a thermal conductivity of at least 3 Watts per meter per Kelvin.
12 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thermal interface material comprises a thermal phase change material having a thermal conductivity of at least 3 Watts per meter per Kelvin.
13 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a non-metallized polyimide film with surface roughness Ra 0.02-0.07 microns, thermal interface material assembly is adhesively attached to the second surface of the second component.
14 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second PSA strips are continuous and gap-free along the opposed edges parallel to the direction of sliding.
15 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the PSA structure further comprises additional PSA segments along edges perpendicular to the sliding direction, such that the PSA defines a perimeter frame bounding the thermal interface material.
16 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive comprises first and second layers of pressure sensitive adhesive along opposite first and second sides of a polyethylene terephthalate film.
17 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the thermal interface material includes edge portions defining an outer perimeter; and
the pressure sensitive adhesive is disposed along the edge portions of the thermal interface material around the outer perimeter of the thermal interface material, such that the pressure sensitive adhesive is between and adhesively attaches the second surface of the substrate to the second surface of the second component.
18 . The thermal interface material of claim 17 , wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive provides reinforcement along the edge portions of the thermal interface material that are parallel and/or perpendicular to a direction in which the second surface of the second component is slidable relative to the first surface of the first component when the thermal interface material assembly is between the first and second surfaces of the respective first and second components.
19 . The assembly of claim 17 , wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive provides reinforcement along the edge portions of the thermal interface material that helps to confine the thermal interface material within an area defined by the reinforcement and thereby inhibits migration of the thermal interface material.
20 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein a central region between the first and second PSA is substantially free of PSA, thereby reducing migration of the thermal interface material during thermal cycling.
21 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thermal interface material is naturally tacky and/or self-adherent to the second surface of the second component.
22 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is adhesively attached to the second surface of the second component, such that the substrate is disposed over the thermal interface material whereby the adhesive attachment of the substrate to the second surface of the second component retains positioning of the thermal interface material relative to the second surface of the second component.
23 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein after 500 cycles of sliding insertion/removal at a temperature of 75° C. or above, the thermal interface material assembly exhibits no visible residue transfer from the antifriction layer and a temperature reduction of at least 5° C. at 20 W relative to a configuration without the assembly.
24 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thermal interface material is configured to have a thermal conductivity of at least 7.5 Watts per meter per Kelvin.
25 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second component comprises a heatsink including the second surface along which the thermal interface material assembly is disposed.
26 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antifriction layer comprise a lubricant applied along the first surface of the substrate.
27 . The thermal interface material assembly of claim 26 , wherein the lubricant comprises a dry lubricant configured to slide along in contact with the first surface of the first component without leaving residue from the dry lubricant along the first surface of the first component.
28 . A heatsink comprising the thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the heatsink includes a protruding portion that protrudes outwardly from a surface of a first side of the heatsink and one or more heat dissipation fins protruding outwardly from a second side of the heatsink opposite the first side; and
the thermal interface material assembly is along the protruding portion of the heatsink.
29 . A device comprising the heatsink of claim 28 and a housing adapted to slidably receive a connector, wherein:
the antifriction layer slidably contacts a portion of the connector when the connector slidably received within or removed from the housing; and
the thermal interface material assembly is between the connector and the heatsink when the connector is slidably received within the housing whereby the thermal interface material assembly defines at least a portion of a thermally-conductive heat path between the connector and the heatsink.
30 . The device of claim 29 , wherein:
the device is a small form-factor pluggable transceiver;
the connector is a small form-factor pluggable cable connector; and
the housing is a small form-factor pluggable cage adapted to receive the small form-factor pluggable cable connector.
31 . A device comprising:
a housing having a cavity including an opening and an inner surface within the cavity;
a component having a surface corresponding to the inner surface within the cavity of the housing, the component configured to be slidably insertable into and slidably removable from the cavity through the opening; and
the thermal interface material assembly of claim 1 along the surface of the component, the thermal interface material assembly configured such that the antifriction layer faces the inner surface within the cavity of the housing when the component is within the cavity, whereby the antifriction layer contacts the inner surface within the cavity of the housing when the component is slidably inserted into or removed from the cavity through the opening.
32 . The device of claim 31 , wherein:
the device further comprises one or more heat dissipation fins protruding outwardly from a wall of the housing; and/or
the component comprises a connector, and the housing comprises a cage including the cavity configured to receive the connector.
33 . The device of claim 31 , wherein:
the device is a small form-factor pluggable transceiver;
the component comprises a small form-factor pluggable cable connector; and
the housing is a small form-factor pluggable cage including the cavity configured to receive the small form-factor pluggable cable connector.
34 . The device of claim 31 , wherein:
the device is a photoelectric conversion device;
the component is an optical module including a surface corresponding to the inner surface within the cavity of the housing; and
the thermal interface material assembly is along the surface of the optical module.