Comair Rotron Double Sided Tape Attachment Method

Double-sided adhesive tapes provide a convenient method to attach a heat sink to a semiconductor package. They have a dual role participating as an interface material and as an attachment method. Unlike liquid adhesives and epoxies, no cure time is required.

Thermally conductive adhesive tapes are manufactured by coating a woven glass fiber web, dielectric film or aluminum foil substrate on which both sides will be coated with either a silicone or acrylic based (or sometimes both) adhesive, impregnated with thermally conductive particles (e.g. ceramic, Boron Nitride, Graphite, Alumina, etc). Silicone based adhesive is preferred when attaching to low energy surfaces (like plastics) while acrylic based adhesives are best for metal-to-metal joints.

Double-sided tapes can be die-cut to match most standard packages.
Click here to view some of the packages supported and dimensioned drawings of these standard shapes.

Double-Sided Adhesive Tapes

Part Number (Click on part number for PDF Datasheet)	Loaded Material	Adhesive (Heat Sink Side)		Carrier	Adhesive (Component Side)		Thickness		Thermal Impedance @20 PSI		Thermal Conductivity	Breakdown Voltage
Part Number (Click on part number for PDF Datasheet)	Loaded Material	Type	Color	Carrier	Type	Color	inch	mm	°C-in²/W	°C-cm²/W	W/m-K	Volts
8013410	-	Acrylic	White	Aluminum Foil	Silicone	Clear	0.007	0.18	1.1	7.1	-	N/A
8013411	-	Silicone	Clear (Silver)	Aluminum Mesh	Silicone	Clear (Silver)	0.007	0.18	1	6.5	-	N/A
8013404	Al₂O₃	Acrylic	Beige	Kapton-MT	Acrylic	Beige	0.011	0.28	0.6	3.7	0.37	5000
8013404	Al₂O₃	Acrylic	White	Aluminum	Acrylic	White	0.005	0.13	0.5	3.4	0.5	N/A
8013412	TiB	Acrylic	Grey	Expanded Al	Acrylic	Grey	0.006	0.15	0.25	1.7	1.4	N/A
8014CPU	-	Acrylic	Tan	Supported	Acrylic	Tan	0.009	0.23	0.3	1.9	0.6	6000
8014BP100	-	Acrylic	White	Fiberglass	Acrylic	White	0.005	0.13	0.61	3.9	0.8	6500
8014BP660	-	Acrylic	White	Silicone Elastomer	Acrylic	White	0.011	0.28	0.79	5.1	0.4	8500
80128044	-	Acrylic	Black	Aluminum Foil	Acrylic	Black	0.0055	0.14	0.41	2.6	0.47	N/A

Adhesive tapes require some initial mating pressure to conform to irregularities in the mating surfaces and from there they perform much like the elastomeric film. However, once the joint is formed, the adhesive tapes require no mechanical support to maintain the mechanical or thermal integrity of the interface. Double-sided tapes, however, are unable to fill large gaps between irregular surfaces.

Thermal resistances for tapes are higher than most other thermal interface materials. This is because the thermal tapes do not fill gaps as well as liquids or thixotropic materials, and thermal joints made with tapes will normally include considerable interstitial air gaps. For the most part, the quality of the two joined surfaces will determine the amount of contact that is achieved between the two components and the resultant thermal performance.

Double-sided tapes are usually pre-applied by the heat sink manufacturer to the heat sink. During assembly, the heat sink / tape assembly is pressed into contact with the semiconductor package to form the thermal joint. The application pressure is typically 10 to 50 psi for a few seconds duration. The bond thus formed can be considered permanent and the heat sink is reliably attached to the semiconductor. The high shear strength of these thermal tapes means that reliable joints between heat sinks and semiconductors can be achieved, even with poor surfaces and no mechanical fasteners.