Chomerics has unveiled a thermal interface gel aimed at high-throughput production.

Chomerics-therm-a-gap-gel-60hf-grey-10cc
Called GEL 60HF (HF = high flow), long-term thermal stability is claimed by the company, as are properties suited to re-work and field repair.

“The paste-like consistency enables tightly controlled dispensing and accurate material placement during assembly,” it said. “Notably, the product requires low compressive force to deflect under assembly pressure, minimising stress on components, soldered joints and PCB leads.”

It is a pre-cured single-component gel that can be stored and transported at room temperature and with a one year shelf-life from manufacture. A multitude of packages suited to automated dispensing are available, from 10cc (pictured) to 7.5 litre.

 

“Mobile phone manufacturers with short takt times can achieve up to 100g/min alongside good wetting-out properties that adhere well to the substrate in support of fast dwell times,” added Chomerics marketing manager Ben Nudelman. “Throughput of several hundred pieces per hour is possible.”

While Nudelman said 100g/minute, the figure according to the data sheet and product page is 80g/minute.

Update: Chomerics contacted Electronics Weekly to clarify this point.
In a nutshell, dealing with practical gels is not an exact science.
“The flow rate is variable and has a tolerance of ±10%. so it could be between 80g/m and 100g/m,” according to the company. Also “the specific gravity/density of these types of material can vary by around 10%  so in the case of the 60HF which has a nominal density of 3.3 this would be a low of 2.97 and a high of 3.63.”
Beyond this, the geometry of the chosen package, the tolerance of the delivery nozzle, and how full the package is when the flow test is done, also affect the flow rate, it explained.

Thermal conductivity is 6.2W/mK and operation is over -55 to 200°C, with 150ppm/K expansion. Typical minimum bond-line thickness is 0.15mm.

Electrically: resistivity is 1013Ωcm, dielectric strength 5kVac/mm and it has a dielectric constant of ~4.8 and ~0.002 dissipation factor – the last two at 1MHz 0.5mm.

Applications are foreseen in consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, energy storage devices, power supplies, automotive control units, automotive sensors, CPUs and GPUs.