Controlling the thermal contact resistance of a carbon nanotube heat spreader

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates fabrication methods to control the thermal contact resistance of carbon nanotube supports, enabling tuning from insulating to conducting states for advanced thermal management applications.

Contribution

It introduces techniques to selectively achieve weak or strong thermal coupling in carbon nanotube supports, with direct imaging validation.

Findings

Weakly-coupled nanotube contact resistance > 250 K*m/W

Strong coupling reduces resistance to approximately 4.2 K*m/W

Imbedding nanotubes in metal contacts significantly improves thermal contact

Abstract

The ability to tune the thermal resistance of carbon nanotube mechanical supports from insulating to conducting could permit the next generation of thermal management devices. Here, we demonstrate fabrication techniques for carbon nanotube supports that realize either weak or strong thermal coupling, selectively. Direct imaging by in-situ electron thermal microscopy shows that the thermal contact resistance of a nanotube weakly-coupled to its support is greater than 250 K*m/W and that this value can be reduced to 4.2(+5.6/-2.1) K*m/W by imbedding the nanotube in metal contacts.