For most calculations regarding the thermal analysis of electronic systems, thermal conductivities of solid materials are required. It is felt that many designers would welcome a comprehensive list showing these values for certain classes of objects, such as PCB materials, leadframes, molding compounds, alloys etc.. This issue starts with 45 leadframe materials, the data for which is published by the suppliers. Of course, such a list can never be complete, and most certainly, materials that have been marketed recently are missing. It should be stressed that the accuracy of the data is not guaranteed.
It is often not recognized that the accurate measurement of thermal conductivity is still a very challenging task, and an abundance of literature describing the substantial differences quoted by established Standard Laboratories testifies to this assertion.
In addition, it is usually not known how the suppliers calculate this data. When accurate predictions of temperature are the objective of the analysis, it is recommended that measurements be taken in situ, by imposing a variety of well-known boundary conditions to the package under study, and fitting the unknowns of the package to match the measured temperatures.
