1. An example of a U.S. Air Force supported Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small BusinessTechnologyTransfer (STTR) developed
technology that met topic requirements and has outstanding potential for the Air Force, other DoD agency, or commercial industry.
Managing heat that is generated by electronic subsystems in next-generation
aircraft is a vexing challenge for aerospace system designers. In the interest of
meeting this challenge, the Air Force recently provided follow-on funding to a
Colorado small business, ADA Technologies, under an existing Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) effort that is identifying improved methods for heat
conduction and rejection from system electronics for advanced fighter aircraft.
DISTRIBUTION A:
Approved for public
release; distribution
unlimited.
Dr. Sayangdev Naha, ADA Technologies’principal investigator, uses the thermal interface material unit to test
the thermal resistance of grease. (Courtesy photo)
Topic Number:
AF09-BT22
TopicTitle:
Coated Carbon
Nanotubes as High
Conductivity Thermal
Interface Materials
Contract Number:
FA8650-15-C-2515
SBIR Company Name &
location:
ADA Technologies,
Littleton, CO
Technical Project Office:
AFRL Aerospace
System Directorate,
Wright-Patterson AFB,
OH
Published:
June 2015
Innovative Ideas Heating Up at Colorado Small Business
Air Force SBIR/STTR Success Story

2. Air Force SBIR/STTR Program
AFRL/SB
1864 4th Street
Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433
Air Force SBIR/STTR Program
Website: www.afsbirsttr.com
Comm: (800) 222-0336
Fax: (937) 255-2219
E-mail: info@afsbirsttr.com
Contents of this sheet are not necessarily the official views of, or are endorsed by, the U.S. government, DoD, or Department of the Air Force.
Discover - Innovate - Leverage
Air Force Requirement
The need for improved thermal management technologies,
particularly focused on reducing contact resistance, is reach-
ing a critical point, and it is unlikely that incremental improve-
ments of existing technologies will satisfy future needs. Today,
improved understanding of thermal energy transport at
nanometer scales, combined with the new means to design
materials at the atomic level, has enabled a broad range of
technological advances that can be applied to address the
problem of reducing thermal interface resistance between
electronic devices and heat sinks, or more generally, between
any two solids in contact.
SBIRTechnology
To address this need, ADA Technologies, Inc., Littleton,
Colorado, in partnership with the University of Colorado and
the Air Force SBIR program, established a novel approach to
enhancing the thermal performance of carbon nanotube
(CNT)-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) through the
incorporation of nanomaterials, which provide a preferred
transport path to high-energy electrons.
Thermal management is quickly becoming a limiting
design factor for future military aircraft, directed energy, and
satellite systems. Future applications will require more power,
higher functional density, and the capability to operate in
increasingly harsh environments – but have less space to do
so – contributing to higher thermal loads and less opportunity
to drive heat out.
Thermal interface materials are an essential part of thermal
management system as they help to ensure a continuous
thermal conductive path between the heat source and
heat sink/dissipater. ADA’s TIM is based on the use of coated
CNTs to enhance the overall bulk conductivity by controlling
electron transport through energy barriers. In this initial
effort, ADA developed thermal models that provide material
selection and development insights and a novel silver
complex that can be utilized to“coat”CNTs via heating. The
company also demonstrated their concept with a 200-percent
increase in thermal performance over the baseline matrix
material.
Potential Appication
According to ADA Technologies’principal investigator, Dr.
Sayangdev Naha, ADA’s thermal grease offers“ultra-low
thermal impedance at a fraction of the filler concentration
compared to state-of-the-art, which enables this grease
to sustain desired performance through severe thermal
cycling conditions.”
The objective of the SBIR Phase II follow-on contract with ADA
Technologies is to enhance the technology and manufacturing
readiness for nano-enhanced TIM grease and to integrate
it with power system modules that are currently used on
advanced fighter aircraft.
“With further testing, the TIM grease is expected to provide
a 10 degrees Celsius or better reduction in junction
temperatures,”said Dr. James Scofield, the Air Force Research
Laboratory (AFRL) researcher managing the project. “This
reduction in temperature is expected to provide a direct
increase in fuel cooling loop temperatures, improved end-of-
mission thermal capability during ground idling, and improved
reliability and cost savings.”
Company Impact
ADA’s technology will permit the development and usage
of electronics that offer higher power and faster operating
speeds by providing more efficient heat management. This will
directly benefit capabilities in next-generation Air Force efforts,
such as those anticipated in military aircraft, directed energy
systems, satellites and avionics. Commercially, ADA anticipates
this technology will have direct benefits in many platforms
including personal electronics (e.g., laptops, cell phones
and music players) and civilian aircraft, spacecraft and other
microelectronics.
The Air Force SBIR/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
program office is providing nearly $1.5 million to further
mature this technology for AFRL. In addition, this program
leverages more than $3.95 million in additional AFRL mission
funds and the independent research and development funds
from the participating companies. These funds will help ensure
a successful transition of the technology into military and/or
private sectors.