Thermal Engineering Associates, Inc. (TEA) announces the immediate availability of a new family of Thermal Interface Material (TIM) characterization tools that offer flexibility, standardization, and low cost. The tools are comprised of four elements: 1) Thermal Test Chips (TTC); 2) Thermal Test Vehicles (TTV); 3) Direct Attach Thermal Test Boards (DA-TTB); and 4) Socketed Thermal Test Boards (S-TTB).

The TTC-1002 thermal test chip is available as a unit cell 2.5mm on a side or as a cell array of up to 100mm on a side. The TTC-1002 was first shipped to customers in May of 2008 and has received tremendous acceptance. The TTV-1100 and TTV-1200 families include a range of TTC-1002 cells and arrays attached to a 27mm square Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FCBGA) package. Available chip dimensions range from 2.5mm to 12.5mm on a side and the largest chip can dissipate up to 150 Watts. The direct attach TTB-5101 is designed in accordance with JEDEC standards with edge connectors and customer configurable pin-outs to provide a broad range of standard and non-standard heating configurations. The S-TTBs are similar in design to the DA-TTBs but contain high quality low insertion force sockets designed to minimize ball damage. These boards are also customer configurable.

"We are finally able to reduce the cost of TIM testing," said TEA President, Bernie Siegal, "I have been working with many customers for several years to find the intersection of their requirements for TIM testing and characterization so that we can build and stock standard tools that are needed by a broad range of companies."

Pricing and Availability:

For a Product Specification Sheet, pricing, and availability contact TEA.

About Thermal Engineering Associates:

TEA and its president, Bernie Siegal, have been providing thermal test and measurement hardware, software, and consulting services since 1973. Siegal has been chairman of the JEDEC JC15 committee and is the principle author of many MILSTD 750 thermal test methods. All major semiconductor companies, packaging companies, and many system level OEMs have utilized TEA equipment and/or services during its long history. Siegal is a founding member of IEEE SEMI-THERM, has delivered numerous papers and articles on thermal testing and is frequently sought out as a lecturer and expert in the field.