Line Plot from Scientific Research

FEM results for copper (dark red) and aluminum (green) regulators show that Gon increases linearly with hcontact for all hcontact<200 W/m2K, while saturating to a bulk-conduction limited value at large hcontact. This contact conductance arises from incomplete microscopic contact between pressed surfaces (inset illustration, also showing thermal interface material). FEM results for titanium (blue) show lower Gon at fixed hcontact due to the reduced thermal conductivity of titanium compared with copper or aluminum. Our measured data (magenta) indicate that the ON state conductance is currently interface-conductance dominated, both with and without the TIM.

DOI