Thermal interface material

Abstract

There is provided a thermal interface material, TIM, a thermal interface application comprising such a TIM, and corresponding methods for providing the material and the thermal interface. The TIM comprises a TIM layer in which an activable shrinkage material is distributed, such that upon activation of the shrinkage material the thickness of the TIM layer is increased. In the thermal interface application, where the TIM (400) is arranged between a heat generating component (20) and a heat conducting element (30), the increase in thickness of the TIM layer is utilized to increase the contact pressure on mating surfaces. The TIM is sandwiched between the heat generating component and the heat conducting element before the activation of the shrinkage material, and the distance (h) between the heat generating component and the heat conducting element is restricted such upon activation of the shrinkage material, the restricted maximum height (h) between the heat generating component and the heat conducting element in combination with the TIM increasing the thickness of the TIM layer, the contact pressure on the mating surfaces is increased.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.