The Versatility of Indium Corporation’s Heat-Spring®: A Revolutionary Thermal Interface Material

As electronic components and processors become more powerful, the challenge of managing heat effectively has grown increasingly complex. For many of our customers, Indium Corporation’s Heat-Spring® has proven to be a game-changing solution for thermal interface challenges. This innovative material, born from a commitment to solving real-world problems, leverages the unique properties of indium metal to provide superior thermal management performance.

The Problem with Conventional TIMs

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are critical for transferring heat between components like processors and cooling systems. However, traditional polymer-based TIMs often fail under demanding conditions. They suffer from “pump-out”, a phenomenon where repeated heating and cooling cycles cause the TIM to migrate away from the interface, leaving gaps and reducing efficiency. Additionally, polymers and their conductive fillers rely on lattice vibrations for heat transfer, which can result in thermal mismatches and performance degradation over time.

Enter the Heat-Spring®

Indium’s Heat-Spring® is a pure indium-based thermal interface material designed to overcome these challenges. Indium, a highly conductive and ductile metal, offers several advantages over polymer-based TIMs:

• High Thermal Conductivity: Indium metal has a conductivity of 86 W/mK, significantly higher than that of polymer-based materials.
• Softness and Conformability: Indium is four times softer than lead, allowing it to conform to uneven surfaces, minimising thermal resistance.
• Elimination of Pump-Out: Being a solid metal, it doesn’t migrate or dry out, ensuring consistent performance throughout the product's lifespan.

The Heat-Spring® takes these properties a step further with its patented design. By patterning the indium foil, Indium Corporation has created a material that achieves intimate contact between surfaces while maintaining exceptional thermal conductivity. The patterning creates thicker and thinner sections of the foil, ensuring effective plastic deformation and maximising heat transfer.

Applications and Benefits

Heat-Spring® technology is suitable for a wide range of applications, including:

• High-performance processors: Designed to work with Intel Cascade Lake and Ice Lake processors, it supports reliable operation in extreme thermal environments.
• Immersion Cooling: Unlike polymer TIMs, Heat-Spring® materials are compatible with dielectric coolants used in immersion cooling systems. They maintain integrity without dissolving or degrading, making them ideal for advanced cooling techniques.
•  Sustainable Solutions: Indium Corporation also offers a reclaim and recycle program for Heat-Spring®, promoting sustainability.

Why Indium?

While other metals like silver or aluminum have higher thermal conductivity values, indium offers unique advantages due to its softness, compressibility, and ability to conform under lower applied stresses. These properties make it an ideal choice for TIMs in applications where surface irregularities and thermal cycling pose significant challenges.

Customisation and Expertise

At Conro, we supply Heat-Spring® to customers across industries who require a dependable and high-performance thermal interface material. With customisation options and proven process expertise, we work closely with our clients to recommend the best solutions for their specific applications. If you’re looking for a thermal management solution that offers superior reliability, performance, and sustainability, Indium Corporation’s Heat-Spring® is the perfect choice. Contact us today to learn more or to discuss how this innovative material can benefit your application.