Surface Mount Techniques (SMT) announces stencil/screen printers specifically designed for thermal grease applications.
Highly concentrated heat sources found in ever shrinking electronic designs have increased the demand for better heat dissipation. The demand is seen across many industries: power electronics, electric vehicles (EV), ever shrinking handheld devices and notebook computers, flat panel displays, and many others. Heat sink designs are highly integrated and much more complex. Thermal interface material (TIM) suppliers have met industry demands with higher performance thermally conductive materials. Among various TIM offerings, thermal grease can provide the lowest thermal resistance at the junction between the heat source and heat sink; however, this junction can still be the weak link in a thermal path. If the grease is not applied properly, heat is trapped at the source and failures occur.
SMT has introduced several machines that accommodate larger, odd shaped substrates. The machines offer the same speed, precision, and repeatability found on SMT’s solder paste printers. The 1616TC and 1616TCS printers are tabletop machines that are used for R&D or production. The 1616TC is a standard clamshell style printer. For heat sinks that are too cumbersome to handle, the 1616TCS includes a shuttle mechanism to extend the tooling plate from under the screen/stencil. This allows simpler loading/unloading of the heat sink.
