Research progress of methods to reduce solid-solid contact thermal resistance

Abstract

Reducing solid-solid interface contact thermal resistance is an efficient and widely used method for reducing heat transfer resistance in devices. Increasing the effective contact of the interface according to the solid-solid interface state can enhance the interface heat conduction. Firstly, the mechanism of solid-solid interface thermal resistance was summarized. Secondly, the mechanism of the factors affecting the solid-solid interface thermal resistance was investigated, such as interface state(plane contact and groove contact), roughness, interface pressure, thermal interface material, etc. Thirdly, the latest progress of methods to reduce the contact thermal resistance of solid-solid interface was introduced. Finally, the problems in the research of reducing the contact thermal resistance of solid-solid interface were analyzed and its development prospect was suggested as following: further research should be carried out alone or together in the direction of the interface structure, pressure/flatness, physical parameters of solid-solid contact materials and thermal interface materials with ultra-thin boundary layer thickness, etc. It provides theoretical and experimental support for the application in the field of enhanced electronic cooling.

Keywords

• engineering heat and mass transfer; interface structure; contact thermal resistance; roughness; interface pressure; thermal interface materials