FUNDAMENTALS OF THE SQUEEZE-FLOW BETWEEN A HEAT SINK AND A FLIP-CHIP
The paper presents the fundamentals of the squeeze-flow of the thermal interface material (TIM) that takes place during the pressing of a heat sink to the back side of a flip-chip is studied. A two-dimensional string model is developed for predicting the time-varying plate separation and squeeze-rate in terms of the squeeze force. The predictions are compared to a one-dimensional string model and to a squeeze-drop flow model. Results indicate that the flow resulting from the squeezing of a string of TIM between two rigid plates is truly two-dimensional. The effect of surface tension and of the heat transfer is found to be negligible under the assembly conditions. The flow behaviour of the TIM with suspensions of high thermal conductivity particles is also investigated. It is shown that the fluid remains Newtonian for particle volume fractions smaller than 30%. For volume fractions larger than 30%, the fluid becomes Non-Newtonian during the early stages of the squeezing process, i.e. for t ≤ 1s. In the later stages however (t > 10s), the fluid may be considered Newtonian.