Enhanced heat dissipation of vertically aligned ZTO–Fe3O4 thermal interface materials via phase-formation control in Fe3O4

Abstract

Efficient thermal management of highly integrated and miniaturized advanced electronic devices is becoming increasingly important. In this study, we developed a Zn2SnO4 (ZTO)-based thermal interface material (TIM) that maximizes thermal conductivity by vertically aligning Fe3O4-coated ZTO particles using an external magnetic field. To vertically align the insulating ZTO microspheres with the magnetic field, ferromagnetic Fe3O4 was coated onto the ZTO particles. Optimizing the Fe3O4 coating conditions minimized the formation of secondary phases such as α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3, boosting the thermal performance. Test results on GPU cooling performance in actual computing systems showed that optimizing the precursor ratio of the ZTO–Fe3O4 core–shell filler reduced GPU chipset temperatures by up to 8 % (ZTO-F2: 87.04 °C, ZTO-F4: 80.56 °C), while optimizing Fe3O4 synthesis time lowered GPU temperatures by up to 14.3 % (30 min: 92.67 °C, 60 min: 81.06). These results demonstrate the potential for application in next-generation thermal management systems by pushing the limits of thermal conductivity in insulator-based TIMs.