Panasonic shrinks thermal material thickness

Soft-PGS enhances the thermal coupling between heat producing devices (heat sources) and heat dissipation devices (the heatsinks), says Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems Europe.

The thermal interface material (TIM) is a 200µm thick graphite sheet designed for use as a thermal interface material for IGBT modules. Soft-PGS can be compressed by 40%, making it a practical solution to dramatically reduce thermal resistance between a heatsink and an IGBT module, says the company. The 200µm thick sheet is easy to install, and although inital cost is higher, it has far lower labour and installation costs than thermal grease or phase change material, says Panasonic. The material guarantees thermo stability of up to 400°C and high reliability against intense heat cycles (-55 to +150°C). Its thermal conductivity is guaranteed at 400W/mK for X-Y direction and at 28W/mK in the Z axisn. The company offers a range of standard sheets for different IGBT modules from various suppliers, including Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Fujitsu.