Effects of micron-sized metal particles on the mechanical properties of In-Sn thermal interface materials

With the rapid increase of heat generation, thermal interface material (TIM) is becoming one of the most important materials of micro-electronic. In-based solder TIM has high thermal conductivity, but its high cost and low mechanical properties become the obstacles of its application in industry. In order to improve the shear strength of In-based solder-TIM, we add Al particle into melting InSn to produce InSn-Al TIM. At room temperature, the shear strength of InSn-Al composite thermal interface material (CTIM) was 14.85% higher than InSn TIM. This paper also investigates the microstructure, thermal conductivity and resistivity of above two TIMs. Our work developed a background for further study in the mechanical properties of metal particle enhanced InSn-based TIM.