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Innovation_AF09-BT22_ADA_20150610
- 1. An example ofa 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/STTRProgram 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.