Short carbon fiber enhanced thermal grease

Abstract

A thermal conducting material with higher thermal conductivity for a given low viscosity is shown. Carbon fibers are added to the thermal grease to promote thermal conductivity. The carbon fibers are also not highly electrically conductive, reducing the danger of short circuiting due to misapplication of the thermal grease. Due to the high thermal conductivity of the carbon fibers, a lower loading percentage is needed to obtain significant gains in thermal conductivity. The low loading percentages in turn permit lower thermal grease viscosity, which allows the thermal grease to be spread very thin during application.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A thermal conducting material comprising: 
 a viscous matrix material; and    a distribution of carbon fibers within the matrix material.    
     
     
         2 . The thermal conducting material of  claim 1 , wherein the carbon fibers are randomly oriented in the viscous matrix material.  
     
     
         3 . The thermal conducting material of  claim 1 , further including a second distribution of thermally conductive particles within the viscous matrix material.  
     
     
         4 . The thermal conducting material of  claim 3 , wherein the second distribution of thermally conductive particles includes at least one particle selected from the group consisting of aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), boron nitride (BN), aluminum, and copper.  
     
     
         5 . An information handling system comprising: 
 a memory device;    a processor device;    a thermal conducting material coupled to the processor device, including; 
 a viscous matrix material;  
 a distribution of carbon fibers within the viscous matrix material;  
   a heat transfer device coupled to the thermal conducting material; and    a system bus coupling the memory device and the processor device.    
     
     
         6 . The information handling system of  claim 5 , wherein the amount of the distribution of carbon fibers in the viscous matrix material is between about 10%-20% by weight.  
     
     
         7 . The information handling system of  claim 5 , wherein the viscous matrix material includes a silicone oil based matrix material.  
     
     
         8 . The information handling system of  claim 5 , further including a distribution of aluminum nitride (AlN) particles within the viscous matrix material.  
     
     
         9 . A method of manufacturing a heat transfer contact, comprising: 
 mixing a thermal conduction material, including; 
 selecting a volume of a viscous matrix material;  
 distributing a number of carbon fibers within the viscous matrix material;  
   spreading the thermal conduction material onto the surface to create a surface/thermal conduction material interface;    contacting a heat transfer device to the thermal conduction material to create a heat transfer device/thermal conduction material interface.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein providing a viscous material includes providing a silicone oil based material.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein distributing a number of carbon fibers includes distributing an amount of carbon fibers in the viscous matrix material that is between about 10%-20% by weight.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further including distributing an number of aluminum nitride (AlN) particles within the viscous matrix material.  
     
     
         13 . A method of manufacturing a thermal interface material comprising: 
 selecting a volume of a viscous matrix material; and    distributing a number of carbon fibers within the viscous matrix material.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein providing a viscous material includes providing a silicone oil based viscous material.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein distributing a number of carbon fibers includes distributing an amount of carbon fibers in the viscous matrix material that is between about 10%-20% by weight.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further including distributing an number of aluminum nitride (AlN) particles within the viscous matrix material.  
     
     
         17 . A method of cooling a surface, comprising: 
 conducting heat from the surface through a surface/thermal conduction material interface;    conducting heat through a thermal conduction material, wherein the thermal conduction material includes a viscous matrix material with a distribution of carbon fibers within the viscous matrix material; and    conducting heat through a thermal conduction material/heat transfer device interface.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein conducting heat through a thermal conduction material includes conducting heat through a silicone oil based matrix material with a distribution of carbon fibers within the silicone oil based matrix material.