Carnegie Mellon University

Arieca Inc.

Navid Kazem

Carmel Majidi

Michael D Bartlett

Andrew Lewis Fassler

Matthew J Powell-Palm

Jonathan A Malen

Hing Jii Mea

Keyton D Feller

Vivek Singh

Allyssa Kerr

Dylan S Shah

Jeffrey Gelorme

A thermal interface material, an integrated circuit formed therewith, and a method of application thereof are provided. The thermal interface material includes 5% to 30% by volume of a polymer component and at least 70% by volume of liquid metal droplets, all based on total volume of the thermal interface material. The polymer component has a first polymer having a molecular weight in a range of 400 g/mol to 400,000 g/mol. The liquid metal droplets are dispersed throughout the polymer component.

Thermal interface material, an integrated circuit formed therewith, and a method of application thereof

A method for synthesizing a thermally conductive and stretchable elastomer composite comprises mixing liquid metal and soft material (e.g., elastomer) in a centrifugal or industrial shear mixer under conditions such that the liquid metal forms microscale liquid metal droplets that are dispersed in the soft elastomer. Liquid metal-embedded elastomers, or 'LMEEs,' formed in this manner dramatically increase the fracture energy of soft materials up to 50 times over an unfilled polymer. This extreme toughening is achieved by means of (i) increasing energy dissipation, (ii) adaptive crack movement, and (iii) effective elimination of the crack tip. Such properties arise from the deformability and dynamic rearrangement of the LM inclusions during loading, providing a new mechanism to not only prevent crack initiation, but also resist the propagation of existing tears for ultra-tough, highly functional soft materials.

Method of synthesizing a thermally conductive and stretchable polymer composite

A die of an integrated circuit and an upper layer of a circuit assembly are thermally connected by applying a thermal interface material (TIM) on the die, such that the TIM is between the die and an upper layer. The TIM comprises an emulsion of liquid metal droplets and uncured polymer. The method further comprises compressing the circuit assembly thereby deforming the liquid metal droplets and curing the thermal interface material thereby forming the circuit assembly.

Method, apparatus, and assembly for thermally connecting layers

Disclosed herein is a composite comprising an elastomer with an embedded network of liquid metal inclusions. The composite retains similar flexibility to that of an elastomer but exhibits electrical and thermal properties that differ from the properties of a homogeneous elastomer. The composite has applications for wearable devices and other soft matter electronics, among others.

Polymer composite with liquid phase metal inclusions

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Navid Kazem