1 1

United States Deparbnent of Commerce

I Ai(^31 National Institute of Standards and Technology

NISTIR3948

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A

POLYMIDE FILM BETWEEN

4.2 AND 300 K, WITH AND

WITHOUT ALUMINA PARTICLES

AS FILLER

D. L. Rule

D. R. Smith

L. L. Sparks

NISTIR 3948

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A

POLYMIDE FILM BETWEEN

4.2 AND 300 K, WITH AND

WITHOUT ALUMINA PARTICLES

AS FILLER

D. L. Rule

D. R. Smith

L. L. Sparks

Chemical Engineering Science Division

Center for Chemical Engineering

National Measurement ..aboratory

National institute of Standards and Technology

Boulder, Colorado 80303-3328

August 1990

Sponsored by

SSC Laboratory

2550 Beckleymeade Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75237-3946

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Robert A. Mosbacher, Secretary

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, John W. Lyons, Director
.4
CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT 1

INTRODUCTION 1

RELEVANT PREVIOUS WORK 2

DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS 5

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMENS 7

Construction 7

Measurement of Surface Roughness 9

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE 9

Cutting PPMI Film 9

Building a Specimen 9

Mounting a Specimen in the Apparatus 10

Experimental Conditions 10

COMPUTATION OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 13

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF PPME FILM 13

Representation of Data 13

Dependence of Thermal Conductivity on Temperature 15

Reproducibility of Tests 16

Dependence of Conductivity on Film Thickness 17

Effect of Thermal Contact Resistance 17

Dependence of Conductivity on Applied Pressure 18

Effect of Heat Treatment on Conductivity 19

COMPARISON WITH RESULTS FROM OTHER STUDIES 19

SUMMARY 20

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 20

APPENDIX 60

REFERENCES 65

iii
LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Specimen identification 8

2 Physical characteristics of the specimens 8

3 Coefficients of A(T) for the five PPMI film specimens. ... 14

4 Location index for figures and tables of conductivity data

for all PPMI specimens 15

5 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film H-003 21

6 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film H-003-R (retest) 22

7 Thermal conductivity calculated for selected temperatures,

from eq (1), for specimen PPMI film H-003 23

8 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film HN-003 27

9 Thermal conductivity calculated for selected temperatures,

from eq (1), for specimen PPMI film HN-003 28

10 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film MTL-003 32

11 Thermal conductivity calculated for selected temperatures,

from eq (1), for specimen PPMI film MTL-003 33

12 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film MT-003 37

13 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film MT-003-R (retest) 38

14 Thermal conductivity calculated for selected temperatures,

from eq (1), for specimen PPMI film MT-003 39

15 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film MT-001 43

16 Thermal conductivity calculated for selected temperatures,

from eq (1), for specimen PPMI film MT-001 44

17 Experimental conductivity and AT/Q per layer of film as a

function of applied mechanical pressure 52

18 Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature for

PPMI film HN-Heat 56

iv
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1

Specimen chamber for unguarded fixed-point compression

probe 6

2 A single layer of PPMI film was sandwiched between paper

and cut with a circular gasket cutter. Use of a backing

sheet of PTFE prolonged the life of the cutting edge 11

3 Building a PPMI specimen involved: (a) stacking the greased

disks of film in a restraining tube and then (b) compressing the layers between two copper blocks with a C-clamp.

Excess grease was removed by wiping with a paper towel (no

solvent was used) 11

4 Diameter and length of the specimen stack were measured

while the stack was compressed in the C-clamp 12

5 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen H-003 and

H-003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to determine reproducibility. Both

scales are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high

temperatures 24

6 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen H-003 and

H-003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to determine reproducibility. Both

scales are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at

low temperatures 25

7 Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen H-003 and

H-003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature used for

each run. 26

8 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen HN-003. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures 29

9 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen HN-003. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures 30

V
LIST OF FIGURES Cont'd

Figure Page

10 Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen HN-003. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each

run 31

11 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MTL-003. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures 34

12 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MTL-003. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures 35

13 Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MTL-003. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each

run 36

14

Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-003 and MT003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to determine reproducibility. Both scales

are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures 40

15 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-003 and MT003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to determine reproducibility. Both scales

are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures 41

16 Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MT-003 and

MT-003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature used for

each run 42

17 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-001. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures 45

18 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-001. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales

are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures 46

vi
LIST OF FIGURES Cont'd

Figure Page

19 Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MT-001. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each

run 47

20 Thermal conductivity of four PPMI film specimens composed

of layers of film 76 /zm thick. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. [[Specimens MT-003 and H-003

were retested to determine reproducibility. ] ] Both scales

are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures 48

21 Thermal conductivity of four PPMI film specimens composed

of layers of film 76 /xm thick. Experimental data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are logarithmic,

which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures 49

22 Intercomparison of thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimens MT-003 (thickness: 76 /xm) and MT-001 (thickness:

25 /xm) 50

23 Comparison of relative deviation of experimental data (open

squares) for PPMI film specimen MT-001 (25 /xm) with both

calculated thermal conductivity (fitted curve) and experimental data (open circles and triangles) for film specimen

MT-003 (76 /xm) 51

24 Thermal contact resistance, AT/Q, per layer of PPMI film,

at a mean specimen temperature of 277.5 K, as a function

of number of interfacial contacts. Open triangles and

squares represent specimens composed of greased interfaces,

and the open circle is for one specimen of ungreased (dry)

interfaces, for 76-/xm (MT-003: 0.003 in) PPMI film. The

open square represents thermal resistance for 252 layers of

25-/xm (MT-001: 0.001 in) film; the value has been scaled by

a factor of 3 to give the equivalent resistance per layer

of 84 (252/3) layers 0.003 in thick. The resistance per

layer for the values for MT-003 and the scaled value for

the much larger number of layers of MT-001 agree within

experimental uncertainty. This shows the absence of any

measurable dependence of conductivity on thickness, and

that contact resistance for greased interfaces is negligible. The straight line is a least-squares fit to the

points for greased interfaces. The open circle at 84

layers, 0.66 K/W, lies 0.14 K/W (27 percent) higher than

the line; the difference represents the contact resistance

of the interface between two adjacent dry films 53

vii
LIST OF FIGURES Cont'd

Figure . Page

25 Thermal contact resistance, AT/Q, per layer of 76-/xm PPMI

film (specimen MT-003-P) , as a function of mechanical pressure, at mean specimen temperatures of (a) 277.8 K (ice),

(b) 80.3 K (LN) , and (c) 8.3 K (LHe) . Data points "+" in

each plot represent contact resistance for a different

specimen (MT-003) of the same material under the same

conditions, calculated from table 12. Points "X" represent contact resistance for specimen MT-003 -R of the same

material under the same conditions , calculated from data

in table 13. Error bars for each curve provide scales

with which to judge the amount of scatter in the data. At

all measurement temperatures, experimental reproducibility

(imprecision) is within about 2 percent. Within this imprecision, contact resistance appears to become independent

of pressure, for pressures above about 12 MPa (1.7 kpsi)

,

at all three mean temperatures 54

26 Thermal conductivity as a function of mechanical pressure,

corresponding to the data for thermal contact resistance

shown in figure 24. Mean specimen temperatures are: (a)

open circles: 277.8 K (ice); (b) triangles: 80.3 K (LN)

;

(c) open squares: 8.3 K (LHe). Refer to the caption for

figure 25 for the explanation and importance of the error

bars. Within experimental imprecision, conductivity appears to become independent of pressure, for pressures

above about 12 MPa (1.7 kpsi), at all three mean temperatures 55

27

Intercomparison of the thermal conductivity of 76 -/im PPMI

film before (HN-003) and after (HN-Heat) a heat treatment

at 150®C for ninety minutes 57

28 Relative deviations of experimental data for 76-/xm PPMI

film specimen before (HN-003: open circles) and after (HNHeat: open triangles) heat treatment, from calculated

thermal conductivity (curve fitted to data for HN-003)

.

The similarity in magnitude of deviations shows that the

heat treatment had no measurable effect on the thermal

conductivity of the film, within experimental imprecision. . 58

29 Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimens composed of

layers of film 76 pm thick, as in figure 21. Conductivity

data for Kapton or other polyimide films (crosses; Refs. 6,

12-15, 17), Vespel (filled circles; Refs. 7, 10), Kerimid

(filled square; Ref. 8), polyethylene (narrow box; Ref. 11),

and Mylar (filled triangles; Refs. 16, 18) are also given

for intercomparison 59

vii i
LIST OF FIGURES Cont'd

Figure Page

Al (Lower): Image, from a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM),

of a single film of type H unfilled (neat) PPMI (thickness:

76 fim) on which a gold layer 30 nm thick was deposited to

define the surface. The horizontal line segment bounded by

two vertical markers shows the path used to scan the surface roughness.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile along the path parked on the lower STM image, which two triangles marking the

portion of the scan corresponding to the segment on the

lower image. The grid units are in nanometers. This film

specimen was not mounted completely flat, leading to the

non-zero slope of the trace from left to right in the

image; the surface roughness is approximately 67 nm 60

A2 (Lower): STM image of type HN unfilled (neat) PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /im) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile for a scan across

the surface (grid units: nm) . The surface roughness is

approximately 32nm 61

A3 (Lower): STM images of type MTL alumina-filled PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /xm) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper) : The surface roughness profile along the path

marked on the lower STM image, with two triangles marking

the portion of the scan corresponding to the segment on the

lower image. The surface roughness appears to be approximately 250 nm, with some peaks (light regions in the lower

image) measuring 1000 nm 62

A4 (Lower): STM images of type MT alumina-filled PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /im) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper) : The surface roughness profile along the path

marked on the lower STM image , with two triangles marking

the portion of the scan corresponding to the segment on the

lower image. The surface roughness appears to be approximately 250 nm, with some peaks (light regions in the lower

image) measuring 750 nm 63

A5 (Lower): STM images of type MTL alumina-filled PPMI film

(thickness: 25 /xm) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper) : The surface roughness profile along the path

marked on the lower STM image, with two triangles marking

the portion of the scan corresponding to the segment on

the lower image. The surface roughness appears to be

approximately 250 nm 64

ix
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'J*
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A POLYIMIDE FILM BETWEEN 4.2 AND 300 K,

WITH AND WITHOUT ALUMINA PARTICLES AS FILLER

D. L. Rule, D. R. Smith, L. L. Sparks

Chemical Engineering Science Division

National Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Boulder, Colorado 80303-3328

The thermal conductivity of several types of a commercial

polyimide (specifically, polypyromellitimide : PPMI) film was

measured over a range of temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K using

an unguarded steady-state parallel-plate apparatus. Specimens

were made by stacking multiple layers of film together.

Conductive grease was used between layers of film to reduce

thermal contact resistance. Two specimens were made from two

different types of neat (unadmixed) film with a thickness of

76 jj,m, and three specimens were made from films containing two

different amounts of admixed alumina filler and having thicknesses of 25 fim or 76 /xm. The conductivity of PPMI film increases with the amount of alumina filler present. The thermal

conductivity of specimens made from film of the same type but

of different thickness is independent of film thickness, within

the limits of experimental uncertainty. The thermal conductivity of a specimen subjected to a simulated curing process by

being held at a temperature of 150®C for ninety minutes was

indistinguishable from that of a similar, control specimen not

subjected to such treatment.

Key words: alumina; conductivity; contact; low temperature;

PPMI; polyimide film; polymer; poly-pyro-mellitimide ; resistance ; thermal

.

INTRODUCTION

The thermal conductivity of many polymeric materials, including polypyromellitimide (PPMI) in particular, is not well known over ranges of temperature where such polymers already find wide application. PPMI film has

several desirable properties; among these are good tensile strength and

mechanical toughness. As a polymeric material, however, PPMI has a thermal

conductivity which is relatively low compared to that of some other cryogenic

insulating materials. This reduced conductivity makes PPMI film a candidate

1
for applications such as electrical insulation between electrical windings at

low temperatures for superconducting magnets . We report measurements of

thermal conductivity for two different thicknesses of PPMI film, either neat

(unadmixed), or filled with powdered alumina. PPMI film is commonly known as

Kapton*

.

Glassy or otherwise disordered materials such as epoxy or polymeric

plastics strongly scatter phonons at all temperatures. The effect of powdered filler material within a surrounding matrix is to increase the thermal

resistance of the composite by enhancing the scattering of the phonons carrying the thermal energy. This effect is accentuated if the velocities of

sound in the two media and their densities are very different. For composites of epoxy that contain fillers, the thermal conductivity of the composite

can be either greater or less than that of the epoxy matrix, depending on the

size and kind of the particles used as the filler [1,2,3]. For example, fine

particles of dielectric material within an epoxy or polymeric matrix will

increase phonon scattering and result in a material that is a poorer thermal

conductor (better thermal insulator) . The scattering of phonons is enhanced

for fillers having smaller grain size. The conductivity of composites of

epoxy and nonmetallic filler particles at temperatures below 10 K is much

lower than would be expected on the basis of high- temperature behavior, and

the difference is greater, the lower the temperature [1].

On the other hand, a filler of metallic or other highly conductive

powder at high filling factor can be used to increase the thermal conductivity of a dielectric matrix, by shunting the flow of heat through the

grains of conductive powder and bypassing the poorly conducting path through

the matrix, but at temperatures below 10 K the small size of the particles

may still increase phonon scattering and cause a net increase in thermal

resistance

.

RELEVANT PREVIOUS WORK

Literature surveyed in conjunction with the current experimental study

revealed some previous work concerning the thermal conductivity of films of

PPMI or similar polymers. The experimental techniques used, and the data

obtained in these studies are pertinent to evaluating our data. The discussion below briefly summarizes previous experimental results thought to be

relevant to this work.

For analyzing the thermal conductivity of epoxy resin matrix containing

powdered glass, quartz, alumina, or diamond, Meredith and Tobias [4] extended

* Kapton is a registered trademark for a proprietary PPMI film. Vespel

and Kerimid are trademarks for polyimide resins used for castings or moldings. These particular PPMI products, as well as other products named in

this report (Mylar, OMEGA, Apiezon grease) are identified only to specify

the material used in this and in other studies cited as background; endorsement of these products or their manufacturers by NIST or by the U.S. government is neither intended nor implied.

2
a basic formula of Rayleigh [5] to the regime of higher volume concentrations

of filler. Garrett and Rosenberg [1] found this approach to be a satisfactory basis for analyzing experimentally obtained conductivity values,

assuming the filler particles to be spheres. The concentration and conductivity of the filler particles must both be known.

In the course of an investigation of thermal grounding of copper electrical leads bonded to polyimide film, Radebaugh, Frederick, and Siegwarth

[6] measured the thermal conductivity of Kapton at temperatures from 0.1 to

4.2 K. The leads were of copper foil 36 /im thick, and the polyimide film

was 76 /im thick. The foil was bonded to one side of the polyimide film with

thin sheets of thermoplastic polyester resin cured at 150“C, which thus

exposed the polyimide film to the same curing temperature. The thermal

conductivity of the polyimide film was found to be about 5 mW/(m*K) at 4.2 K.

Vespel polyimide resin is an amorphous, cast, solid form of PPMI

.

Locateili, Arnaud, and Routin [7] measured the thermal conductivity of three

different types (neat, filled with graphite, or filled with fibrous glass) of

this resin over the range of temperature from 0.08 to about 2 K. The

specimens were cylinders 5 mm in diameter and 50 mm long. Over this range of

temperature the resin exhibited a linear dependence of the logarithm of thermal conductivity on the logarithm of temperature. It is risky, but possibly

informative, to assume that their conductivity- temperature relation may be

safely extrapolated to temperatures somewhat higher (4.2 K) than their upper

limit of measurement (2 K) . When such an extrapolation is performed (graphically) to estimate the thermal conductivity, a value of about 10 mW/(m'K) is

found for the conductivity of neat Vespel SP 1 resin at 4.2 K. Details of

the experimental technique used to measure the thermal conductivity were not

given in the paper by Locateili, et al.

Kerimid is another amorphous, solid form of PPMI. Claudet, Disdier,

and Locateili [8]

,

using the "double flux" method [9]

,

measured the thermal

conductivity of Kerimid resin, in combination with two different types of

powdered alumina filler. The two types were : hexagonal, particle size,

1.5 /tm; and A2

: cubic particle size, 0.02 /zm. These workers also found a

linear dependence between the logarithm of the thermal conductivity and logarithm of the temperature. They found the conductivity of neat resin to be

38 mW/(m‘K) at 4.2 K. Admixture to the resin of 56 mass percent of Ai

alumina as filler reduced the conductivity at 4.2 K to 15.5 mW/(m*K). This

was a reduction of conductivity by a factor of about 2.5 in comparison to the

value for neat resin. Increasing the concentration of this same alumina

filler to 65 mass percent gave a conductivity of about the same value,

14 mW/(m*K) . They felt these results were in good agreement with a value

(11 mW/(m'K) they cite from an earlier study by Van de Voorde [10] on neat

Vespel SP4 resin. Their use of A2 alumina as filler (57 percent by mass)

reduced the conductivity at 4.2 K by a factor of 10 to 3.9 mW/(m*K) in

comparison to the value for neat resin. Use of 65 percent by mass of A2

alumina as filler reduced the conductivity at 4.2 K to 1.7 mW/(m’K) , a

reduction by a factor of 22. They attribute the much lower values for the

specimens of resin filled with A2 alumina to the presence of some porosity,

as suggested by appreciable differences between calculated and measured

densities

.

3
Muller [11] measured the thermal conductivity of several kinds of

plastic tapes (polysuifone , polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene with

urethane binder, and polypropylene with polyethylene binder). Such tapes

were being considered for insulation of cryogenic power cables. He used a

modified steady- state technique that established a temperature gradient

between two copper plates separated by four layers of polymeric film. Measurements were performed with the tapes in vacuum and in helium gas at pressures from 0 to 710 kPa (0 to 100 psi) . No mention was made of use of any

material between the layers of film to reduce thermal contact resistance.

Muller found the thermal conductivity to depend on gas pressure for values

between 0 and 170 kPa (25 psi) . Above these pressures the conductivities

of the polyethylene and polycarbonate films were independent of gas

pressure. The thermal conductivities of these films at 6 K ranged from 6 to

9.2 mW/(m-K).

Wipf [12] measured thermal resistances of copper surfaces separated by

films of Kapton, Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate) or mica, over the range

of temperature from 4 to 30 K. He used a stack of an alternating series of

insulating film and 1-mm copper blocks in an unguarded apparatus. By assuming that the thermal conductivity of the bulk material does not depend on

contact pressure, but that the contact resistance (and its reciprocal, the

interfacial contact conductance) does, he found that the effective

interfacial conductance saturates, or becomes constant, at high pressure

(above about 100 MPa) . At low temperatures an approximately linear dependence of the logarithm of thermal conductivity of Kapton film on the logarithm of temperature was observed. At 5 K the conductivity of the film was

10 ± 2 mW/(m-K) and at 10 K its conductivity was approximately 20 mW/(m’K).

Wipf concluded that at low temperatures polyimide film is, among solids, "one

of the worst" [10] thermal conductors (best thermal insulators). The conductivity depended strongly on contact pressure between the contacting copper

surfaces and the film specimens, implying poor thermal contact below

approximately 100 MPa.

Choy, Leung, and Ng [13] used laser-flash diffusivity to measure the

thermal diffusivity of films of polycarbonate, polyvinyl idene fluoride,

polyimide, and polyethylene terephthalate. Combining the experimental

diffusivity data with specific heat data obtained from the literature, they

then calculated the thermal conductivity. At 298 K, the thermal conductivity

of the polyimide film (Kapton Type H) , for thicknesses of 14, 26, 51 and

130 /xm, was 166 ± 4 mW/(m-K) .

One technique for determining thermal conductivity is to use the relation between temperature rise and time for a copper block of known heat capacity, heated through a thin film of specimen interposed between the block

and the source of heat. Using such a method, called a "thick-film integrator", together with a laser-flash thermal diffusivity apparatus, Witek,

Guerrero, and Onn [14] determined the thermal conductivity at room temperature of polyimide film (Kapton 100 H-N) matrix filled with powdered alumina.

The size of the alumina filler particles was not given. The thermal conductivity determined by the thick- film integrator at room temperature varied

approximately linearly from 100 mW/(m*K) , at 0 volume percent (neat polyimide) of alumina filler, to about 380 mW/(m-K), at 45 volume percent of filler.

4
Lambert [15] quoted manufacturer's values for the thermal conductivity

of Kapton H polyimide film. The conductivity values given varied from about

160 mW/(m-K) at 25°C to 178 mW/(m-K) at 200“C.

Steere [16] established that a specimen of polymeric material may be

built up of a stack of thin films without adversely affecting the accuracy of

measurement of thermal conductivity. He used films of polyethylene terephthaiate (PET; type-A Mylar) with a thickness of 25 /xm (0.001 in) alternating with ultra-thin (2.5 /xm) foils of constantan. No grease or other thermal

contact medium was used between the foils. The conductivity was measured by

a transient technique while the stack of films was held in an ordinary bench

vise. The compressive force used was not quantified, but was described as

"no[t] excessive”. His values for the thermal conductivity of this PET film

varied from about 130 to 140 mW/(m'K) at temperatures from 210 to 270 K.

Hust and Boscardin [17] measured the thermal conductivity of aluminum

disks 0.25 mm (0.01 in) thick coated on both sides with polyester-amide- imide

film (OMEGA) . The mean specimen temperatures ranged from 4 to 300 K. A

stack of 63 of these disks was built up with Apiezon N grease on both

surfaces of each disk. The total thickness of the grease during the measurement was negligible, and no increase in thermal resistance was expected. At

low temperatures a linear dependence of the logarithms of thermal

conductivity and temperature was observed. The slope of the functional

relation began decreasing at temperatures above 100 K and was almost flat at

300 K. The values of conductivity found for this particular film were about

24 mW/(m*K) at 4 K, about 140 mW/(m*K) at 78 K, and about 200 mW/(m*K) at

300 K.

Lee [18] used a dynamic measurement technique to measure the thermal

conductivity at room temperature of thin films of polyterephthalate (PET;

Mylar) in single thicknesses of 76 and 127 /xm, and in combined thicknesses of

203 and 254 /xm; polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) , in six thicknesses ranging

from 12 to 80 /xm; and polystyrene (PS) , in six thicknesses ranging from 12 to

150 /xm. To improve thermal contact at the interfaces, the surfaces of the

polymer films were wet with a small amount of mineral oil and the measuring

stack of isothermal blocks and polymer film was loaded with weights of 207 or

300 g. Some residual contact resistance was still observed and was measurable

with the technique used. The observed thermal conductivities at room temperature were: PS, 169 mW/(m-K); PMMA, 201 mW/(m-K) ; and PET, 189 mW/(m-K)

.

DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS

The apparatus used here to measure thermal conductivity is a modified,

unguarded, "fixed-point" apparatus [19] based on a method of axial one-dimensional heat flow. The specimen chamber is shown schematically in figure 1.

A specimen of known length and cross-sectional area is compressed between two

isothermal copper blocks.

Three stainless -steel bolts clamp the specimen between the two isothermal copper blocks. The upper limit of clamping pressure attainable with

these bolts is estimated as about 17 MPa for specimens having a diameter of

5
Figure 1. Specimen chamber for fixed-point compression probe.

6
19 mm (0.75 in). This maximum pressure is determined by the total force

bearable by the three clamping bolts, and is greater for specimens of smaller

diameter. However, the use of a specimen of smaller diameter would lead to a

smaller flow of heat through the specimen, a greater fraction of heat through

the clamping bolts, and a greater uncertainty in the quantity of heat flowing

through the specimen. The flow of heat bypassing the specimen through the

bolts is known from previous calibration runs, and is subtracted from the

total heat produced in the heated isothermal block to obtain the quantity of

heat passing through the specimen.

The upper isothermal block is thermally anchored by conduction through a

copper tempering tube to the top of the specimen chamber, which is immersed

in one of four constant- temperature (fixed-point) baths. This upper block

maintains the cold-side temperature of the specimen. The nominal temperatures of these fixed-point baths are: 4 K (determined by a bath of liquid

helium), 76 K (liquid nitrogen), 194 K (a mixture of dry ice and alcohol),

or 273 K (a mixture of pure ice and water)

.

The temperature of the lower block is maintained by controlling the

electric power supplied to its attached heater; this determines the hot-side

temperature of the specimen as well as fixing the temperature difference

across the specimen. The total power supplied to the hot block is determined

from measurements of the voltage and current to its resistive heating element. The heat flowing through the specimen is computed by subtracting the

calibrated heat flow through the compression bolts from the total power.

Approximately 60% of the total power passes through the specimen.

A AuFe-NiCr thermocouple measures the cold-block temperature, and a

differential thermocouple of the same alloys measures the difference in

temperature between the hot and cold blocks. The temperature differences

established between the blocks are typically 1, 2, 4,..., and 64 K, differing

by factors of 2. These temperature differences permit the use of different

mean temperatures within the specimen subject to the constraint of the fixed

cold-side temperatures.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMENS

Construction

Specimens were made by stacking together multiple layers of PPMI film

of the same type. Some of the tested films contained particles of alumina as

a filler to increase the conductivity; the size and amount of these alumina

particles in the film were not available from the manufacturer. Table 1

provides the specimen identification. The thickness of the films used to

construct most of the specimens was nominally 76 iim (0.003 in), but one

specimen was made with nominally 25 fj.m (0.001 in) film. Table 2 lists the

diameter and total thickness of each specimen stack, as well as the total

number of film layers each stack contained, from which the thickness per

layer was computed. The agreement of the measured thickness per layer of an

actual built-up specimen (25 fim or 76 fim) with the nominal thickness (26 /xm;

7
Table 1. Specimen identification.

Specimen

Lot

Number

Nominal Film

Thickness

(|fln) (in)

Material

H-003 247-3 76 0.003 Unfilled film

H-003-R 247-3 76 0.003 Retest of film H-003

HN-003 256-A 76 0.003 Unfilled film

HN-heat 256-A 76 0.003 Retest of spec. HN-003

after heat treatment

MTL-003 327-B 76 0.003 Low alumina content

MT-003 Roll 76 0.003 High alumina content

MT-003-R 303 76 0.003 Second specimen, MT-003

MT-003-P 76 0.003 Third specimen, MT-003

MT-001 332-B 25 0.001 High alumina content

Table 2. Physical characteristics of the specimens.

Specimen Diameter Thickness Number of Thickness Surface

(mm) (mm)

Layers per Layer

(/im)

Roughness

(nm)**

H-003 19.45 2.54 33 77 67

H-003-R 19.43 2.60 33 79

HN-003 19.43 2.47 33 75 32

HN-Heat 19.43 2.46 33 75

MTL-003 19.43 3.71 51 73 250

MT-003 19.45 6.44 84 77 390

MT-003-R 19.43 6.53 84 78

MT-003-P 19.43 6.38 84 77

MT-001 19.43 6.61 252 26 390

Measurements of surface roughness of filled films revealed the

existence of some localized peaks. Specimen MTL-003 had some peaks with

heights of up to 1000 nm, and MT-003 had 750 nm peaks. The MT-001 film also

had some peaks, of undetermined size.

8
73 to 79 fim) is good, within experimental imprecision. The arithmetic mean

of the measured thickness of the nominally 76,2 fim thick film used in the

first seven specimens is 76.5 fim.

Measurement of Surface Roughness

Information on the surface roughness of the PPMI films was also not

available from the manufacturer. A colleague at NIST measured the surface

roughness of several film specimens with a scanning tunneling microscope

(STM) . A 30 nm layer of gold was evaporatively deposited on each clean film

surface. This is the usual procedure for providing a conductive surface to

be imaged; the gold layer is too thin to obscure details of surface roughness

on the scale of importance here. The STM uses feedback circuitry on the

tunneling current between a conductive specimen and a atomically sharp

needle to map the surface topography. A portion of the surface of the

specimen was imaged and then a cross section of that image was used to

determine the surface roughness. The resulting images and surface-roughness

scans for five different film specimens are given in the Appendix. STM scans

of the film surface indicate that the unfilled films have a much smoother

surface than the filled films (table 2) . Surface scans and images of MT and

MTL films exhibited some localized peaks which may correspond to grains of

alumina protruding from the surface of the film.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Cutting PPMI Film

For several technical reasons, the fixed-point thermal conductivity

apparatus requires a specimen with a uniform cross-sectional area and a

length of 6 to 18 mm. Thus, to be suitable for mounting in this apparatus a

specimen of PPMI film has to be made as a stack of individual layers of film

(circular disks) . The disks of film must be cut with a very clean outside

edge so that they can be stacked together without interference from the cut

edges. After trying several methods of cutting disks, we found a common

laboratory circular gasket cutter to be most suitable for cutting single

disks of film. In the cutting operation the film was sandwiched between

sheets of paper. Use of a thick backing sheet of Teflon prolonged the life

of the cutting edge of the cutter. The individual disks so produced were

very uniform in size. Figure 2 shows the cutter, film and backing sheet.

Building a Specimen

In order to determine the intrinsic thermal conductivity of the film in

the specimen stack, we developed special procedures for constructing and

mounting a specimen to minimize thermal contact resistance between layers of

film. Adhesives, having intrinsically high viscosity, could not be used

between the layers of film to reduce contact resistance without introducing

non-negligible amounts of material different from the film to be tested.

Instead, a specimen stack was constructed by applying thermally conductive

grease to the contact surfaces of each film disk when compressing the disks

together

.

9
The grease used here was chosen for the following considerations: (a)

low viscosity, permitting it to flow out readily from between neighboring

disks and thereby reduce contact resistance without contributing its own

thermal resistance; (b) absence of thermally conductive filler, which, while

increasing thermal conductivity would also adversely affect the viscosity;

(c) low glass transition temperature, giving it favorable mechanical

properties in the stack during cool-down; (d) relatively high thermal

conductivity; and (e) solubility in common solvents, permitting it to be

easily cleaned from the apparatus after the specimen was removed.

To construct a specimen, we mounted disks of PPMI film within a

restraining tube which maintained the alignment of the disks as they were

pressed together between two copper blocks with a C-clamp (fig. 3). While

the specimen stack was compressed, the diameter and length were measured

(fig. 4) with an imprecision of 13 fim (0.0005 in). After the stack of

disks was compressed, the tube was removed from around the film disks and

excess grease was wiped away with dry cotton swabs or clean paper towel (no

solvent was used) . The specimen was then removed from the C-clamp and

mounted into the apparatus

.

With only a few exceptions which will be explicitly identified, the use

of grease as described here was the normal procedure followed in constructing

ail specimens from layers of film.

Mounting a Specimen in the Apparatus

To mount a specimen in the conductivity apparatus, we first centered it

between the two isothermal copper blocks. Contact between the blocks and the

specimen was effected by tightening the three compression bolts with a

calibrated torque wrench to 1.6 N*m (14 in* lb) of torque. This same value of

torque was used in all experiments. By this means a clamping pressure of

approximately 17 MPa (2.4 kpsi) was applied to the specimen (at room

temperature) in an effort to minimize the effect of thermal contact

resistance. Higher values of torque were not used because this value was

believed to be approaching that at which plastic deformation of the threads

on the compression bolts woulcl begin. The change in clamping pressure due to

cooling the specimen to cryogenic temperatures, while not accurately known,

is believed to be relatively small and not seriously to affect the

measurements of conductivity reported here. After the specimen was

compressed in the apparatus any additional excess grease was removed.

Experimental Conditions

Steady- state measurements were made with the specimens in a vacuum

environment of 1.07 x 10~^ Pa (8 x 10”^ Torr) . With the specimen chamber in

one of the fixed-point baths described earlier, mean specimen temperatures

could be chosen in the range from 4.2 to 300 K. In each case (with one

exception described later) , specimens had the conductive grease applied to

all contact surfaces.

10
Figure 2. A single layer of PPMI film was sandwiched between paper and cut

with a circular gasket cutter. Use of a backing sheet of PTFE

prolonged the life of the cutting edge.

Figure 3. Building a PPMI specimen involved: (a) stacking the greased disks

of film in a restraining tube and then (b) compressing the layers

between two copper blocks with a C-clamp. Excess grease was

removed by wiping with a paper towel (no solvent was used)

.

11
Figure 4. Diameter and length of the specimen stack were measured while the

stack was compressed in the C-clamp.

12
COMPUTATION OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

Knowledge of the power, Qspec» through the specimen, specimen geometry

(thickness, i and cross-sectional area. A) and temperature difference, AT,

across the specimen allow the mean thermal conductivity. A, to be calculated.

The calculation is performed using the one -dimensional approximation of

Fourier's law.

Qspec ~ A ‘A* (dT/dx)

,

( 1 )

recast into the approximate form

A — (Qgpg(,/A)/(AT//?) . ( 2 )

Here the ratio AT/i in eq (2) approximates the derivative dT/dx in eq (1) , and the conductivity obtained is the value averaged over the range of

temperature defined by the temperature difference AT across the specimen.

When the thermal conductivity depends nonlinear ly on temperature, as it

does for these specimens, the large values of temperature difference used

during these measurements can introduce bias in the values of thermal

conductivity calculated from eq (2) . This is due to curvature of the

conductivity function over the range of temperature AT. These biases were

removed during analysis of the thermal conductivity data by use of an

integral technique [20] which gives the correct functional dependence for the

thermal conductivity with temperature. As is conventional, all conductivity

data in the figures are plotted as a function of the (arithmetic) mean

temperature of the specimen.

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF PPMI FILM

Representation of Data

The function chosen to fit the thermal conductivity data as a function

of temperature for each specimen was of the form

n

A(T) = I ai [^n (T+l)]i, (3)

i=l

where n = 4. The resulting values of a^^ for each specimen are listed in

table 3.

13
Table 3. Coefficients of A(T) for the five PPMI film specimens.

Spec

.

®2 ®3 34

H-003 15.549 709xl0"3 -17.417 525x10"^ , 82.690 158x10“^ -81.952 869x10"^

HN-003 30.792 762x10“^ -32.061 706x10"^ 12.444 129x10“^ -10.070 564x10“^

MTL-003 35.506 858x10'^ -39.018 329x10“^ 15.500 030x10"^ -13.132 755x10"*

MT-003 43.345 123xl0~^ -50.529 112x10'^ 19.656 630x10“^ -16.480 966xl0~*

MT-001 48.310 057x10“^ -53.541 715x10“^ 20.399 570x10”^ -17.040 603x10"*

The following format is used to present the thermal conductivity data

for each of the film specimens (made from films H-003, HN-003, MTL-003,

MT-003, or MT-001) , in a sequence composed typically of five figures and

tables

:

First, the experimental conductivity data obtained at each mean specimen

temperature are tabulated (additional data are listed separately if the

specimen was remeasured)

.

Second, smoothed values of conductivity calculated from the fitted

curve (using applicable coefficients) are listed in a following table, with

values of mean specimen temperature differing by 0.1 K, for mean temperatures

from 4.1 to 10 K; with mean temperature values differing by 1 K, for

temperatures from 10 to 100 K; and then with values differing by 10 K for

temperatures from 100 to 300 K.

Third, the conductivity data are plotted with linear scales of

conductivity and temperature, to clarify behavior in the high- temperature

(200 to 300 K) regime.

Fourth, the data are also presented with logarithmic scales along the

conductivity and temperature axes, to clarify the behavior in the lowtemperature (4 to 200 K) regime.

Last, a plot of the relative (percent) deviation of the data points

from the fitted curve, eq (3), is also presented.

Table 4 lists, according to the above format, the remaining tables and

plots of the conductivity data for each of the specimens tested.

14
Table 4. Location index for figures and tables of conductivity data for

all PPMI specimens.

Tables Figures

Specimen Table Table Linear Logarithmic Plot

of of plot of plot of of

Identification Data A(T) X(T) X(T) Deviations

H-003 5

H-003-R 6 7 5 6 7

HN-003 8 9 8 9 10

MTL-003 10 11 11 12 13

MT-003 12

MT-003-R 13 14 14 15 16

MT-001 15 16 17 18 19

Dependence of Thermal Conductivity on Temperature

Type H film (unadmixed; neat) : The dependence of thermal conductivity

on temperature for this unfilled film is plotted in figure 5, with

conventional linear axes to clarify the behavior at temperatures above about

100 K; all the data points above this temperature are clearly separated. In

figure 6, with logarithmic axes of conductivity and temperature, the data

points below 100 K are clearly separated. On both plots, at temperatures

below about 30 K the conductivity rises approximately linearly with temperature; the conductivity then levels off to an approximately constant value

(190 mW/(m’K)) of conductivity at temperatures above about 300 K. The

conductivity at 306 K is about 18 times that at 4.6 K (tables 5 and 6). The

maximum positive and negative deviations (fig. 7) of the data from the fitted

curve are less than about 4 percent.

Type HN film (unadmixed) : At temperatures below about 10 K there is a

slight upward concavity in the conductivity function (figs. 8 and 9);

otherwise the behavior of the conductivity is qualitatively similar.

However, the tendency for the conductivity to become constant at temperatures

around 300 K is not as strong; the conductivity at 300 K reaches a value of

about 375 mW/(m*K) and is still rising with increasing temperature. The

conductivity at 297 K is more than 28 times that at 4.6 K (table 8). The

maximum deviations (fig. 10) of the data from the fitted correlation are less

than 4.5 percent.

Type MTL film (low alumina content): The behavior (figs. 11 and 12) of

this film, with the lower quantity of admixed alumina filler, is similar to

that of the type HN film. The conductivity is about 420 mW/(m‘K) at 300 K.

15
The conductivity at 300 K rises to a value about 32 times that at 4.6 K

(table 10). The maximum deviations (fig. 13) of the data from the fitted

correlation are less than 3 percent.

Type MT film (high alumina content, 76 /xm thick): The conductivity of

this film, with the higher quantity of admixed alumina filler, behaves

similarly (figs. 14 and 15) to that of the types HN and MTL film. The

conductivity is about 510 mW/(m-K) at 300 K. The conductivity at 306 K is

about 51 times that at 4.6 K (tables 12 and 13). The maximum positive

deviation (fig. 16) of the data from the fitted correlation is about 7.5

percent, and the maximum negative deviation is about 5.5 percent.

Type MT film (high alumina content, 25 urn thick): The behavior (figs.

17 and 18) of the conductivity of this film, a thinner version of the preceding specimen, is also similar to that of the types HN and MTL film. The

conductivity at about 306 K is about 37 times that at 5.1 K (table 15). The

maximum deviations (fig. 19) of the data from the fitted correlation are

less than about 3 percent.

The conductivity correlations for the first four specimens of PPMI film,

all 76 /im thick, are compared with each other in figures 20 and 21. On the

scale used in figure 20, the conductivity of type H (neat; unadmixed) film is

nearly constant for temperatures above 200 K, while the conductivities of all

the other types (HN, MT and MTL) are still rising with increasing temperature. As we might expect, the introduction of alumina filler into the PPMI

film increased the thermal conductivity. The type MT film (high alumina

content) has the greatest conductivity of the four types of film. Surprisingly, the conductivity of the type HN (neat) film is more similar to those

of the alumina- filled films than to that of the type H (neat) film.

The large difference observed between the H and HN specimens was not

expected. However, these two specimen types are made by different processes.

The details of their manufacture are proprietary and are not available to

NIST. The measurements on PPMI film H-003 were reproducible within the

experimental imprecision of the apparatus.

Reproducibility of Tests

The reproducibility of thermal conductivity measurements on PPMI film

was tested by constructing two separate specimen stacks of type H film (H-003

and H-003-R, both 76 /^m thick). Identical procedures were followed (cutting,

greasing, compressing and mounting into the apparatus) in constructing the

two specimens. A similar test of repeatability was carried out on two specimen stacks of type MT film (MT-003 and MT-003-R, both 76 /zm) . For each of

these two types of film the conductivity- temperature function of one was not

appreciably different from that of the other. Therefore, as indicated in

table 4, for each of these two types of film (type H, tables 5 and 6; type

MT, tables 12 and 13) both tests were analyzed together on the same graphs

(type H: figs. 5 through 7; type MT: figs. 14 to 16).

16
Dependence of Thermal Conductivity on Film Thickness

The thermai conductivities of the PPMI specimens MT-001 and MT-003 show

no observable dependence on the film thickness. Figure 22 shows the thermai

conductivity as a function of temperature for both MT-001 and MT-003. The

deviation plot in figure 23 compares the experimental data for both MT-001

and MT-003 to the polynomial obtained by a least-squares fit of the MT-003

data alone. Differences in the observed thermal conductivities for the two

different film types at temperatures above 20 K are within experimental

imprecision. . The reason for the large deviation in the data for the MT-001

specimen at temperatures below 20 K (fig. 23) is not known.

Effect of Thermal Contact Resistance

By analogy with electrical resistance, we define the total thermal resistance AT/Q of a stacked- film specimen as the total difference in temperature AT = T]^q^ Tcold between the outer specimen surfaces divided by the

total heat Q passing through the specimen. The nominal "thermal resistance

per film layer" is the total resistance divided by the number of layers of

film in the specimen stack. It includes the intrinsic thermal resistance of

the film layer alone plus the thermal resistances of the two adjoining halflayers of grease.

A series of measurements was performed to determine the difference

between the thermal resistance per film layer as defined above for specimens

made with ungreased (dry) contacts and the resistance per layer for those

made with all contacts greased. This difference in thermal resistance was

examined for dependence on the number of interfacial contacts. Thermal

resistance was measured at a mean specimen temperature of 277.5 K. The

specimens were constructed from 60, 84, 85 and 100 layers of 76-/zm MT film

(MT-003: 76 /zm, 0.003 in), and from 252 layers of 25-/im (MT-001: 25 yLzm,

0.001 in) film. The number 252 was chosen because the thickness of 252

layers of 25-/im film equals that of 84 layers of 76-/zm film. The results,

expressed as thermal contact resistance per layer as a function of number of

contacts (interfaces) are shown in figure 24. (Measurement of one partially

greased specimen was also attempted but the results strongly suggested that

gross contamination of the dry interfaces occurred during the process of

constructing the specimen within the retaining tube.)

An attempt was made to measure the thickness of the grease introduced

between each of the film layers in the MT-001 specimen. This was done by

measuring the total thickness of a compressed specimen stack and dividing by

the total number of film layers in the specimen, both for a greased stack and

for a dry (ungreased) stack. The resulting thickness for a greased specimen

stack is that of one layer of film plus the thickness of the associated two

(half) grease films. The uncertainty of measurements of thickness was less

than 12 /zm (0.0005 in). There was no measurable difference in total thickness (within ~12 jj,m) between a specimen stack composed of 252 layers of 25 jLzm

(dry) film and the same specimen after it was reformed with (251 internal

plus 2 external) fully greased interfaces. The 253 greased interfaces added

negligible thickness to the that of the whole specimen stack, so the thickness of a single film of grease is also negligible in comparison to the

17
thickness of the associated PPMI film. The surface roughness of this film

was comparable to that of the other filled films and was much rougher than

the unfilled films.

The specimen with 252 layers of 25-/zm (MT-001: 0.001 in) film was constructed so as to have the same total thickness as those with 84 (252/3)

layers of 76 -/im (MT-003: 0.003 in) film. However, the number of greased

interfaces for the 252- layer specimen was about three times the number of

interfaces for 84- layer specimens, with comparable surface roughnesses. As

figure 24 shows, the scaled thermal resistance per layer for the 252 -layer

specimen of MT-001 agrees with the values of thermal resistance per layer for

the 84- layer specimens of MT-003 film, within experimental uncertainty. This

result demonstrates that the resistance, conductance, and conductivity are

independent of thickness, and that the contact resistance, for greased interfaces, is negligible.

For the range of number of layers shown in figure 24, the mean value of

thermal resistance per layer for the greased 76-/zm specimens is 0.52 K/W.

This is the probable value of the resistance per greased layer. The straight

line is a least-squares fit to the points for greased interfaces. The open

circle shown in figure 24 at 84 layers, 0.66 K/W, lies 0.14 K/W (27 percent)

higher than the line; because the contact resistance of a greased interface

is negligible, this difference represents the contact resistance of a dry

interface

.

Dependence of Conductivity on Applied Pressure

Thermal contact resistance is reasonably expected to depend on applied

pressure; the intrinsic thermal resistance of a PPMI layer should be only a

weak function of applied pressure over the range of pressure used. An

important question is whether the maximum clamping pressure, 17 MPa, applied

to each specimen during the investigation described above was sufficient to

remove the effect of thermal contact resistance. To determine the effect of

pressure on total thermal resistance of a specimen stack, a third specimen of

film type MT-003 was constructed, and the total resistance measured, for five

different values of clamping pressure ranging from 5 to 17 MPa. The

dependence of resistance on pressure, listed in table 17, was measured for

three different mean specimen temperatures: 277.8 K (ice), 80.3 K (LN) , and

8.3 K (LHe) . Figure 25 illustrates that for all three mean temperatures the

total thermal resistance AT/Q per layer of film appears to become independent

of applied pressure above about 12 MPa (1.7 kpsi) ; therefore the computed

thermal conductivity is also independent of pressure (fig. 26)

.

Above this

threshold pressure (12 MPa), the contact resistance at ice and liquid

nitrogen was less than 1 percent, and at liquid helium, 3 percent. Within

the "saturation" region of thermal resistance, at pressures above 12 MPa, the

standard deviations of the residuals of the points about the "level" portion

of the curve are, for 277.8 K (ice bath), 0.6 percent; for 80.3 K (LN bath),

0.5 percent; and for 8.3 K (LHe), 3 percent.

18
Effect of Heat Treatment on Conductivity

An important application of this PPMI fiim is to provide electrical

insulation between layers of copper wire in a superconducting magnet. In

such use the PPMI film may be installed between the layers of magnet wire. At

the completion of the assembly the magnet is thermally cured for 90 minutes

at about 425 K (150°C). An important question was whether the thermal

conductivity of this PPMI film would be changed by undergoing a heat

treatment similar to that typically used in the application just described.

The film could also be subjected to a mechanical pressure of about 69 MPa

(10 kpsi) during this heat treatment.

A PPMI film specimen was heat-treated to simulate these conditions. An

ungreased stack of 33 layers of HN-003 film was mounted and compressed

between two copper plates similar to those between which the specimen is

mounted in the conductivity apparatus. Compression bolts produced a

mechanical pressure of 69 MPa (10 kpsi) on the specimen. The assembly was

then placed in an oven at constant temperature and heated to a temperature of

150°C. This temperature was maintained within ±1°C for 90 minutes, after

which the oven and stack were then allowed to cool slowly. The layers of

film were separated, greased, and restacked. This specimen was then

retested to determine whether there was any noticeable change in its thermal

resistance due to the heat treatment. The resulting data are identified as

"HN-Heat" in table 18.

Values of thermal resistance of the HN film before and after heat

treatment were in agreement within the experimental reproducibility of the

apparatus. Figure 27 shows the thermal conductivity as a function of

temperature for specimens HN-003 and HN-Heat. The deviation plot in figure

28 compares experimental data for HN-003 and HN-Heat to the polynomial

obtained from a least- squares fit for the data for HN-003 alone.

COMPARISON WITH RESULTS FROM OTHER STUDIES

In figure 29 we compare results from the literature of measurements of

thermal conductivity of similar insulating films from other studies.

Measurements of Kapton PPMI (Refs. 6, 12-15) and of polyester-amide- imide

(PEAI; Ref. 17) films are shown as crosses. Results for Vespel (Refs. 7, 10)

and Kerimid (Ref. 8), castable forms of PPMI, are plotted as filled circles

and a filled square. It is of possible interest to compare measurements

under similar conditions for polyethylene (PE) tapes and for Mylar (PET)

films, even though these materials are not PPMI. The results for PE tapes

(Ref. 11) are plotted as a long rectangle, and those for PET films (Refs. 16,

18) are given as filled triangles.

19
Measurements from Refs. 6 and 14 on neat Kapton, from Ref. 8 on neat

Kerimid, and from Ref. 11 on PE, and one of the results from Ref. 17 on PEAI

,

diverge by a factor of two or more from the results of this study. The

remaining measurements (Refs. 7 and 10 on neat Vespel; Refs. 12, 13 and 15 on

PPMI ; Refs. 16 and 18 on PET; and Ref. 17 on PEAI) agree well, collectively,

with the results represented by the lowest curve (specimen H-003) of figure

29, considering the experimental imprecision of the apparatus used in this

work and the spread in the results from the other studies.

SUMMARY

Specimens of PPMI film were made by stacking multiple layers of film

together. Conductive grease was used to reduce thermal contact resistance

between the layers of film. We found evidence which showed that the total

thermal resistance of the interstitial grease films was negligible. A

sufficient amount of pressure was applied to the specimen stack to minimize

contact resistance.

Thermal conductivity of the PPMI film was measured for mean specimen

temperatures ranging from 4 to 308 K. The inaccuracy of data obtained with

the fixed-point apparatus used to measure conductivity is estimated to be

about ±5 percent. Correlations were obtained by use of a least-squares fit

to the integral of a fourth-order polynomial in in(T+l) used to represent the

conductivity function. The standard deviations of the residual between the

data and the fitted functions are typically about ±3 percent.

The thermal conductivities of the PPMI film specimens MT-001 and MT-003

(high alumina content; thicknesses of 25 /im and 76 jj,m) show no observable

dependence on the film thickness. The presence of alumina particles had a

large effect on the thermal conductivity, which increased directly with the

content of alumina. The size and number density of the alumina particle

filler is unavailable from the manufacturer.

Heat treatment at 150°C for a period of 90 minutes had no noticeable effect on the observed thermal conductivity of a specimen of PPMI film HN-003.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported in part under contract 4555510 through P. Limon

of the Superconducting Supercollider (SSC) Central Design Group, Lawrence

Berkeley Laboratories, Berkeley, California; and through R. Carcagno of the

SSC Accelerator Systems Division, Universities Research Association, Inc. , Dallas, Texas. The specimens were donated through D. J. Parish, and technical information on polyimide film processing was given by J. Ochsner, both of

the DuPont Company. M.B. Rhodes of the Optical Microscopy Laboratory,

University of Massachusetts at Amherst, advised us on microscopic study of

the differences between PPMI films. Measurements of surface roughness were

made by P. Rice of the Electromagnetic Technology Division of NIST-Boulder

.

20
Table 5. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film H-003.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Kelvin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.638 0.011 LHe

2 5.159 0.011

4 6.224 0.014

8 8.375 0.019

16 12.902 0.031

32 22.493 0.053

64 41.924 0.086

2 77.091 0.126 LN2

2 77.093 0.127

4 78.184 0.126

8 80.373 0.129

16 84.769 0.132

32 93.618 0.138

64 111.507 0.147

75 117.724 0.151

1 192.585 0.173 CO2 -alcohol

2 193.168 0.171

4 194.335 0.170

8 196.684 0.174

16 201.395 0.175

32 210.876 0.176

64 230.124 0.178

1 273.734 0.183 Ice-water

2 274.319 0.184

2 274.319 0.184

4 275.490 0.185

8 277.836 0.186

16 282.553 0.188

32 292.061 0.190

32 292.066 0.190

55.8 306.424 0.192

56.1 306.611 0.192

21
Table 6. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film H-003-R (retest).

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Kelvin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.637 0.011 LHe

8 8.373 0.019

32 22.465 0.053

8 80.367 0.128 LNz

16 84.754 0.132

32 93.580 0.137

64 111.433 0.147

8 196.691 0.180 CO2 -alcohol

32 210.969 0.188

2 274.320 0.191 Ice-water

8 277.841 0.192

32 292.073 0.195

56 306.526 0.198

22
Table 7. Thermal conductivity values as a function of tei^>erature

for specimen PPMI film H-003.

T, A(T). T, A(T), T. A(T). T, A(T),

K W/(m-K) K W/(mK) K W/(m-K) K W/(m-K)

4.10 0.009 9.10 0.022 51 .00 0.100 110.00 0.148

4.20 0.009 9.20 0.022 52.00 0.101 120.00 0.153

4.30 0.010 9.30 0.022 53.00 0.102 130.00 0.157

4.40 0.010 9.40 0.022 54.00 0.103 140.00 0.161

4.50 0.010 9.50 0.023 55.00 0.105 150.00 0.165

4.60 0.010 9.60 0.023 56.00 0.106 160.00 0.168

4.70 0.010 9.70 0.023 57.00 0.107 170.00 0.171

4.80 0.011 9.80 0.024 58.00 0.108 180.00 0.173

4.90 0.01

9.90 0.024 59.00 0.109 190.00 0.176

5.00 0.01

10.00 0.024 60.00 0.110 200.00 0.178

5.10 0.011 11.00 0.027 61 .00 0.111 210.00 0.180

5.20 0.012 12.00 0.029 62.00 0.112 220.00 0.181

5.30 0.012 13.00 0.032 63.00 0.113 230.00 0.183

5.40 0.012 14.00 0.035 64.00 0.114 240.00 0.184

5.50 0.012 15.00 0.037 65.00 0.115 250.00 0.185

5.60 0.012 16.00 0.039 66.00 0.116 260.00 0.186

5.70 0.013 17.00 0.042 67.00 0.117 270.00 0.187

5.80 0.013 18.00 0.044 68.00 0.118 280.00 0.188

5.90 0.013 19.00 0.047 69.00 0.119 290.00 0.189

6.00 0.013 20.00 0.049 70.00 0.120 300.00 0.189

6.10 0.014 21 .00 0.051 71 .00 0.121 310.00 0.190

6.20 0.014 22.00 0.053 72.00 0.121 320.00 0.190

6.30 0.014 23.00 0.055 73.00 0.122 330.00 0.190

6.40 0.014 24.00 0.057 74.00 0.123

6.50 0.015 25.00 0.059 75.00 0.124

6.60 0.015 26.00 0.061 76.00 0.125

6.70 0.015 27.00 0.063 77.00 0.126

6.80 0.016 28.00 0.065 78.00 0.126

6.90 0.016 29.00 0.067 79.00 0.127

7.00 0.016 30.00 0.069 80.00 0.128

7.10 0.016 31 .00 0.071 81 .00 0.129

7.20 0.017 32.00 0.072 82.00 0.130

7.30 0.017 33.00 0.074 83.00 0.130

7.40 0.017 34.00 0.076 84.00 0.131

7.50 0.017 35.00 0.077 85.00 0.132

7.60 0.018 36.00 0.079 86.00 0.133

7.70 0.018 37.00 0.081 87.00 0.133

7.80 0.018 38.00 0.082 88.00 0.134

7.90 0.018 39.00 0.084 89.00 0.135

8.00 0.019 40.00 0.085 90.00 0.135

8.10 0.019 41 .00 0.087 91 .00 0.136

8.20 0.019 42.00 0.088 92.00 0.137

8.30 0.019 43.00 0.089 93.00 0.137

8.40 0.020 44.00 0.091 94.00 0.138

8.50 0.020 45.00 0.092 95.00 0.139

8.60 0.020 46.00 0.094 96.00 0.139

8.70 0.021 47.00 0.095 97.00 0.140

8.80 0.021 48.00 0.096 98.00 0.141

8.90 0.021 49.00 0.097 99.00 0.141

9.00 0.021 50.00 0.099 100.00 0.142

23
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(tn-K)

O H-003 A H-003-R

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 5. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen H-003 and H-003-R

(repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are

presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to

determine reproducibility. Both scales are linear, which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

24
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m-K)

O H-003 A H-003-R

Mean Temperatiire, K

Figure 6. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen H-003 and H-003-R

(repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are

presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to

determine reproducibility. Both scales are logarithmic, which

clarifies the behavior at low temperatures

.

25
O H-003 A H-003-R

Mean Temperatxjure, K

Figure 7. Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen H-003 and H-003 -R

(repeated measurements on same specimen) . The horizontal bar

indicates the span of temperature used for each run.

26
Table 8. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film HN-003.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Ke Ivin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.641 0.013 LHe

2 5.166 0.014

4 6.236 0.017

8 8.437 0.024

16 13.125 0.039

32 23.027 0.069

1 76.566 0.188 LN2 4 78.271 0.194

8 80.551 0.197

16 85.143 0.204

32 94.434 0.217

64 113.410 0.240

1 192.638 0.314 CO2 -alcohol

2 193.275 0.312

4 194.558 0.317

8 197.143 0.325

16 202.287 0.321

32 212.921 0.344

44.5 221.262 0.350

1 273.784 0.358 Ice-water

2 274.419 0.359

4 275.692 0.361

8 278.246 0.364

16 283.384 0.368

32 293.783 0.376

37.6 297.360 0.369

27
^

H

Table 9. Themal conductivity values as a function of temperature

for specimen PPMI film HN-003.

4.10

4.20

4.30

4.40

4.50

4.60

4.70

4.80

4.90

5.00

5.10

5.20

5.30

5.40

5.50

5.60

5.70

5.80

5.90

6.00

6.10

6.20

6.30

6.40

6.50

6.60

6.70

6.80

6.90

7.00

7.10

7.20

7.30

7.40

7.50

7.60

7.70

7.80

7.90

8.00

8.10

8.20

8.30

8.40

8.50

8.60

8.70

8.80

8.90

9.00

A(T) T A(T) T A(T) T A(T)

W/(mK) K W/(mK) K W/(m-K) K W/(m-K)

0.012 9.10 0.025 51 .00 0.143 110.00 0.238

0.012 9.20 0.025 52.00 0.145 120.00 0.250

0.012 9.30 0.025 53.00 0.148 130.00 0.261

0.012 9.40 0.026 54.00 0.150 140.00 0.271

0.012 9.50 0.026 55.00 0.152 150.00 0.281

0.013 9.60 0.026 56.00 0.154 160.00 0.290

0.013 9.70 0.027 57.00 0.156 170.00 0.298

0.013 9.80 0.027 58.00 0.158 180.00 0.306

0.013 9.90 0.027 59.00 0.160 190.00 0.314

0.013 10.00 0.028 60.00 0.162 200.00 0.321

0.014 11.00 0.031 61 .00 0.164 210.00 0.328

0.014 12.00 0.034 62.00 0.166 220 . 00 0.334

0.014 13.00 0.038 63.00 0.167 230 . 00 0.340

0.014 14.00 0.041 64.00 0.169 240 . 00 0.346

0.015 15.00 0.045 65.00 0.171 250.00 0.352

0.015 16.00 0.048 66.00 0.173 260.00 0.357

0.015 17.00 0.051 67.00 0.175 270 . 00 0.362

0.015 18.00 0.055 68.00 0.177 280.00 0.367

0.016 19.00 0.058 69.00 0.178 290.00 0.372

0.016 20.00 0.061 70.00 0.180 300 . 00 0.376

0.016 21 .00 0.064 71 .00 0.182 310.00 0.381

0.016 22.00 0.068 72.00 0.183

0.017 23.00 0.071 73.00 0.185

0.017 24.00 0.074 74.00 0.187

0.017 25.00 0.077 75.00 0.189

0.017 26.00 0.080 76.00 0.190

0.018 27.00 0.083 77.00 0.192

0.018 28.00 0.086 78.00 0.193

0.018 29.00 0.089 79.00 0.195

0.018 30.00 0.092 80.00 0.197

0.019 31 .00 0.094 81 .00 0.198

0.019 32.00 0.097 82.00 0.200

0.019 33.00 0.100 83.00 0.201

0.020 34.00 0.103 84.00 0.203

0.020 35.00 0.105 85.00 0.204

0.020 36.00 0.108 86.00 0.206

0.020 37.00 0.110 87.00 0.207

0.021 38.00 0.113 88.00 0.209

0.021 39.00 0.115 89.00 0.210

0.021 40.00 0.118 90.00 0.212

0.022 41 .00 0.120 91 .00 0.213

0.022 42.00 0.123 92.00 0.215

0.022 43.00 0.125 93.00 0.216

0.023 44.00 0.128 94.00 0.217

0.023 45.00 0.130 95.00 0.219

0.023 46.00 0.132 96.00 0.220

0.024 47.00 0.134 97.00 0.222

0.024 48.00 0.137 98.00 0.223

0.024 49.00 0.139 99.00 0.224

0.025 50.00 0.141 100.00 0.226

28
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m*K)

O HN-003

Figure 8. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen HN-003. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are linear,

which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

29
O HN-003

Mean Tanperature, K

Figure 9. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen HN-003. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures.

30
O HN-003

4 6 10 20 40 60 100 200

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 10. Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen HN-003. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each run.

31
Table 10. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film MTL-003.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Ke Ivin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.636 0.013 LHe

2 5.154 0.014

4 6.214 0.018

8 8.359 0.026

16 12.908 0.043

32 22.519 0.079

63.6 42.026 0.138

8 80.438 0.227 LN2

16 84.906 0.235

32 93.924 0.248

64 112.250 0.272

4 194.455 0.371 CO2 -alcohol

8 196.911 0.369

16 201.834 0.367

32 211.848 0.381

55.7 226.853 0.388

1 273.759 0.401 Ice-water

2 274.368 0.401

4 275.589 0.403

8 278.038 0.406

16 282.957 0.410

32 292.892 0.416

44 300.369 0.420

32
H

>6

Table 11. Thermal conductivity values as a function of temperature

for specimen PPMI film MTL-003.

A(T) T A(T) T

W/(m*K) K W/(m*K) K

A(T) T A(T)

W/(m*K) K W/(mK)

4.10 0.012 9.10 0.028 51.00 0.167 110.00 0.275

4.20 0.012 9.20 0.028 52.00 0.170 120.00 0.288

4.30 0.012 9.30 0.028 53.00 0. 172 130.00 0.300

4.40 0.013 9.40 0.029 54.00 0.175 140.00 0 . 31

4.50 0.013 9.50 0.029 55.00 0.177 150.00 0.321

4.60 0.013 9.60 0.030 56.00 0.179 160.00 0.331

4.70 0.013 9.70 0.030 57.00 0.182 170.00 0.340

4.80 0.014 9.80 0.030 58.00 0.184 180.00 0.349

4.90 0.014 9.90 0.031 59.00 0.186 190.00 0.357

5.00 0.014 10.00 0.031 60.00 0.188 200.00 0.364

5.10 0.014 11.00 0.035 61.00 0.191 210.00 0.371

5.20 0.014 12.00 0.039 62.00 0.193 220.00 0.378

5.30 0.015 13.00 0.043 63.00 0.195 230.00 0.384

5.40 0.015 14.00 0.047 64.00 0.197 240 . 00 0.390

5.50 0.015 15.00 0.051 65.00 0.199 250.00 0.396

5.60 0.016 16.00 0.055 66.00 0.201 260.00 0.401

5.70 0.016 17.00 0.059 67.00 0.203 270.00 0.406

5.80 0.016 18.00 0.063 68.00 0.205 280.00 0.41

5.90 0.016 19.00 0.067 69.00 0.207 290.00 0.415

6.00 0.017 20.00 0.071 70.00 0.209 300 . 00 0.420

6.10 0.017 21 .00 0.075 71 .00 0.21

310.00 0.424

6.20 0.017 22.00 0.079 72.00 0.213 320.00 0.428

6.30 0.018 23.00 0.082 73.00 0.215

6.40 0.018 24.00 0.086 74.00 0.217

6.50 0.018 25.00 0.090 75.00 0.219

6.60 0.019 26.00 0.093 76.00 0.221

- -

6.70 0.019 27.00 0.097 77.00 0.223

6.80 0.019 28.00 0.100 78.00 0.225

6.90 0.020 29.00 0.104 79.00 0.226

7.00 0.020 30.00 0.107 80.00 0.228

7.10 0.020 31 .00 0.110 81.00 0.230

7.20 0.021 32.00 0.113 82.00 0.232

7.30 0.021 33.00 0.117 83.00 0.233

7.40 0.021 34.00 0.120 84.00 0.235

7.50 0.022 35.00 0.123 85.00 0.237

7.60 0.022 36.00 0.126 86.00 0.239

7.70 0.022 37.00 0.129 87.00 0.240

7.80 0.023 38.00 0.132 88.00 0.242

7.90 0.023 39.00 0.135 89.00 0.244

8.00 0.023 40.00 0.138 90.00 0.245

8.10 0.024 41 .00 0.141 91.00 0.247

8.20 0.024 42.00 0.143 92.00 0.248

8.30 0.025 43.00 0.146 93.00 0.250

8.40 0.025 44.00 0.149 94.00 0.252

8.50 0.025 45.00 0.152 95.00 0.253

8.60 0.026 46.00 0.154 96.00 0.255

8.70 0.026 47.00 0.157 97.00 0.256

8.80 0.026 48.00 0.160 98.00 0.258

8.90 0.027 49.00 0.162 99.00 0.259

9.00 0.027 50.00 0.165 100.00 0.261

33
Thermal

Condxx:tivity,

W/(m-K)

O MTL-003

Mean Temperatxire, K

Figure 11. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MTL-003. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are linear,

which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

34
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m-K)

O MTL-003

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 12. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MTL-003. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures.

35
O MTL-003

4 6 10 20 40 60 100 200

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 13. Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MTL-003. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each run.

36
Table 12. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film MT-003.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Kelvin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.629 0.010 LHe

2 5.139 0.012

4 6.177 0.015

8 8.274 0.024

16 12.615 0.042

16 12.623 0.043

32 21.808 0.082

64 40.800 0.154

4 78.157 0.263 LN2 8 80.316 0.265

16 84.657 0.275

24 89.054 0.286

24 89.091 0.285

32 93.407 0.293

64 111.128 0.323

4 194.341 0.441 CO2 -alcohol

8 196.690 0.444

16 201.402 0.446

64 230.188 0.457

1 273.736 0.484 Ice-water

2 274.323 0.485

4 275.499 0.488

8 277.853 0.489

16 282.586 0.494

32 292.133 0.500

54 305.489 0.511

37
Table 13. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film MT-003-R (retest)

.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Ke Ivin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.629 0.011 LHe

8 8.274 0.025

32 21.824 0.084

65 41.389 0.157

32 93.390 0.293 LN2 64 111.074 0.321

1 192.587 0.464 CO2 -alcohol

32 210.857 0.448

64 230.116 0.456

1 273.736 0.485 Ice-water

8 277.848 0.491

32 292.120 0.504

55 306.082 0.513

38
H

X

Table 14. Thernal conductivity values as a function of tenperature

for specimen PPMI film MT-003.

A ( T)

W/(m - K)

4 ., 10 0 . 010

4 .,20 0 . 010

4 .,30 0 . 010

4 .,40 0 . 010

4 .,50 0 . 01

4 . 60 0 . 01

4 . 70 0 . 01

4 . 80 0 . 01

4 . 90 0 . 01

5 . 00 0 . 012

5 . 10 0 . 012

5 . 20 0 .,012

5 .,30 0 . 012

5 . 40 0 . 013

5 . 50 0 .,013

5 .,60 0 .,013

5 .,70 0 . 013

5 .,80 0 .,014

5 .,90 0 .,014

6 , 00 0 ..014

6 .,10 0 . 015

6 , 20 0 .,015

6 . 30 0 . 015

6 ,,40 0 . 015

6 .,50 0 ..016

6 ,,60 0 .,016

6 .,70 0 .,017

6 .,80 0 .,017

6 ,,90 0 ,.017

7 ,,00 0 ,,018

7 ,,10 0 ,,018

7 20 0 .,018

7 ,.30 0 ..019

7 ,.40 0 ,,019

7 ,.50 0 ,.019

7 .60 0 ,.020

7 ,.70 0 ,.020

7 ,.80 0 .,021

7 ,.90 0 ..021

8 .00 0 ,.021

8 ,.10 0 .022

8 .20 0 .022

8 .30 0 .023

8 .40 0 .023

8 .50 0 .023

8 .60 0 .924

8 .70 0 .024

8 .80 0 .025

8 .90 0 .025

9 .00 0 .026

T A ( T)

K W/(mK)

9 . 10 0 . 026

9 . 20 0 . 026

9 . 30 0 . 027

9 . 40 0 . 027

9 . 50 0 .,028

9 . 60 0 .,028

9 . 70 0 . 029

9 . 80 0 .,029

9 . 90 0 .,029

10 . 00 0 .,030

1

. 00 0 . 034

12 . 00 0 . 039

13 . 00 0 .,044

14 . 00 0 ..049

15 . 00 0 .,053

16 . 00 0 .,058

17 . 00 0 .,063

18 ..00 0 ..067

19 .,00 0 .,072

20 ..00 0 ..077

21 ..00 0 ..081

22 ..00 0 ..086

23 ..00 0 ..090

24 ..00 0 ..095

25 ,.00 0 ..099

26 ..00 0 .103

27 ..00 0 .107

28 .,00 0 .112

29 ,.00 0 .116

30 ..00 0 ,.120

31 ..00 0 .124

32 ,.00 0 .128

33 ,.00 0 .132

34 ,.00 0 .135

35 ,.00 0 .139

36 ..00 0 .143

37 ,.00 0 .147

38 ,.00 0 .150

39 ,.00 0 .154

40 .00 0 .157

41 .00 0 .161

42 .00 0 .164

43 .00 0 .168

44 .00 0 .171

45 .00 0 .174

46 .00 0 .178

47 .00 0 .181

48 .00 0 .184

49 .09 0 .187

50 .00 0 .190

T A ( T)

K W/(bK)

51 . 00 0 . 193

52 . 00 0 . 196

53 . 00 0 . 199

54 . 00 0 . 202

55 . 00 0 . 205

56 . 00 0 . 208

57 . 00 0 . 21

58 . 00 0 . 214

59 . 00 0 . 216

60 . 00 0 . 219

61 . 00 0 . 222

62 . 00 0 . 225

63 . 00 0 . 227

64 . 00 0 . 230

65 . 00 0 . 232

66 . 00 0 . 235

67 . 00 0 . 238

68 ..00 0 .,240

69 . 00 0 .,243

70 ..00 0 . 245

71 ..00 0 .,247

72 ..00 0 .,250

73 ,.00 0 ..252

74 ..00 0 ..255

75 ,.00 0 ,,257

76 ,.00 0 ,,259

77 ,.00 0 ,,261

78 ,.00 0 .,264

79 ,.00 0 ,266

80 ,.00 0 ,,268

81 ,.00 0 ..270

82 ..00 0 ..273

00 to .00 0 ..275

84 ,.00 0 ..277

85 .00 0 ,.279

86 .00 0 .281

87 .00 0 .283

88 .00 0 .285

O)

00 .00 0 .287

90 .00 0 .289

91 .00 0 .291

92 .00 0 .293

93 .00 0 .295

94 .00 0 .297

95 .00 0 .299

96 .00 0 .301

97 .00 0 .303

98 .00 0 .305

99 .00 0 .307

100 .00 0 .308

T A ( T)

K W/(mK)

110 . 00 0 . 326

120 . 00 0 . 342

130 . 00 0 . 357

140 . 00 0 . 371

150 . 00 0 .,384

160 . 00 0 . 396

170 . 00 0 .,407

180 . 00 0 .,418

190 ..00 0 ,,428

200 ..00 0 ,.437

210 ..00 0 .446

220 .,00 0 .454

230 ..00 0 .462

240 ,.00 0 .469

250 ,.00 0 .477

260 ,.00 0 .483

270 ,00 0 .490

280 ,.00 0 .496

290 .00 0 .502

300 .00 0 .507

310 .00 0 .512

320 .00 0 .517

330 .00 0 .522

39
Ihennal

Condiactivity,

W/(m*K)

O MT-003 A MT-003-R

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 14. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-003 and MT-003 -R

(repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are

presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to

determine reproducibility. Both scales are linear, which

clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

40
o MT-003 A MT-003-R

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 15. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-003 and MT-003-R

(repeated measurements on same specimen) . Experimental data are

presented as discrete points. Two specimens were tested to

determine reproducibility. Both scales are logarithmic, which

clarifies the behavior at low temperatures.

41
Deviation

(Y

O MT-003 A MT-003-R

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 16. Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MT-003 and MT003-R (repeated measurements on same specimen) . The horizontal

bar indicates the span of temperature used for each run.

42
Table 15. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film MT-001.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Ke Ivin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

2 5.142 0.014 LHe

4 6.181 0.018

8 8.282 0.027

16 12.656 0.047

32 21.839 0.086

64 40.784 0.157

16 84.656 0.282 LN2 32 93.398 0.300

32 93.398 0.300

64 111.107 0.330

64 111.110 0.330

1 192.584 0.451 CO2 -alcohol

8 196.678 0.449

16 201.378 0.449

32 210.906 0.465

64 230.135 0.464

1 273.736 0.494 Ice-water

2 274.323 0.497

4 275.497 0.497

8 277.850 0.500

16 282.577 0.503

32 292.119 0.511

54.5 305.737 0.522

43
H

U

Table 16. Thermal conductivity values as a function of temperature

for specimen PPMI film MT-001.

9 A ( T), T, A ( T), T. A ( T), T A ( T) ^ W/(m - K) K W/(mK) K W/(m - K) K W/(mK:'

4. 10 0.013 9.10 0.029 51 .00 0.198 110.00 0.333

4.20 0.013 9.20 0.029 52.00 0.201 120.00 0.349

4.30 0.013 9.30 0.030 53.00 0.204 130.00 0.364

4,40 0.013 9.40 0.030 54.00 0.207 140.00 0.378

4.50 0.013 9.50 0.031 55.00 0.210 150.00 0.391

4.60 0.014 9.60 0.031 56.00 0.213 160.00 0 . 403

4.70 0.014 9.70 0.032 57.00 0.216 170.00 0.415

4.80 0.014 9.80 0.032 58.00 0.219 180.00 0 . 426 ii 4.90 0.014 9.90 0.032 59.00 0.222 190.00 0 . 436

1 5.00 0.014 10.00 0.033 60.00 0.224 200.00 0 . 445

5.10 0.015 11.00 0.037 61 .00 0.227 210.00 0 . 454

5.20 0.015 12.00 0.042 62.00 0.230 220.00 0.462

5.30 0.015 13.00 0.047 63.00 0.232 230.00 0.470

5.40 0.015 14.00 0.052 64.00 0.235 240 . 00 0.478

5.50 0.016 15.00 0.056 65.00 0.238 250.00 0.485

5.60 0.016 16.00 0.061 66.00 0.240 260.00 0.492

5.70 0.016 17.00 0.066 67.00 0.243 270.00 0.498 ^ 5.80 0.017 18.00 0.071 68.00 0.245 280 . 00 0.505

5.90 0.017 19.00 0.075 69.00 0.248 290.00 0.510

6.00 0.017 20.00 0.080 70.00 0,250 300.00 0.516 I 6.10 0.017 21 .00 0.085 71 .00 0.253 310.00 0.521

; 6.20 0.018 22.00 0.089 72.00 0.255 320 . 00 0.526

6.30 0.018 23.00 0.094 73.00 0.258 330.00 0.531

6.40 0.018 24.00 0.098 74.00 0.260

6.50 0.019 25.00 0.103 75.00 0.263

6.60 0.019 26.00 0.107 76.00 0.265

6.70 0.019 27.00 0.111 77.00 0.267

6.80 0.020 28.00 0.115 78.00 0.269

6.90 0.020 29.00 0.120 79.00 0.272

7.00 0.021 30.00 0.124 80.00 0.274

7.10 0.021 31 .00 0.128 81 .00 0.276

7.20 0.021 32.00 0.132 82.00 0.278

7.30 0.022 33.00 0.136 83.00 0.281

7.40 0.022 34.00 0.139 84.00 0.283

7.50 0.022 35.00 0.143 85.00 0.285

7.60 0.023 36.00 0.147 86.00 0.287

7.70 0.023 37.00 0.151 87.00 0.289

7.80 0.024 38.00 0.154 88.00 0.291

7.90 0.024 39.00 0.158 89.00 0.293

8.00 0.024 40.00 0.162 90.00 0.295

8.10 0.025 41 .00 0.165 91 .00 0.297

8.20 0.025 42.00 0.169 92.00 0.299

8.30 0.026 43.00 0.172 93.00 0.301

8.40 0.026 44.00 0.175 94.00 0.303

8.50 0.026 45.00 0.179 95.00 0.305

8.60 0.027 46.00 0.182 96.00 0.307

8.70 0.027 47.00 0.185 97.00 0.309

8.80 0.028 48.00 0.189 98.00 0.311

8.90 0.028 49.00 0.192 99.00 0.313

9.00 0.029 50.00 0.195 100.00 0.315

44
Thermal

Conductivity,

R/(m-K)

O MT-001

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 17. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-001. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are linear,

which clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

45
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m*K)

O MT-001

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 18. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimen MT-001. Experimental

data are presented as discrete points. Both scales are logarithmic, which clarifies the behavior at low temperatures.

46
O MT-001

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 19. Relative deviations of experimental and calculated thermal

conductivity integrals for PPMI film specimen MT-001. The

horizontal bar indicates the span of temperature for each run.

47
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m*K)

O MT-003 A MTL-003 H-003 V HN-003

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 20. Thermal conductivity of four PPMI film specimens composed of

layers of film 76 /im thick. Experimental data are presented as

discrete points. [[Specimens MT-003 and H-003 were retested to

determine reproducibility.]] Both scales are linear, which

clarifies the behavior at high temperatures.

48
O MT-003 A MTL-003 H-003 V HN-003

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 21. Thermal conductivity of four PPMI film specimens composed of

layers of film 76 nm thick. Experimental data are presented as

discrete points. Both scales are logarithmic, which clarifies

the behavior at low temperatures

49
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m*K)

O MT-003 A MT-003-R MT-001

Figure 22. Intercomparison of thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimens

MT-003 (thickness: 76 /im) and MT-001 (thickness: 25 /xm)

50
Deviation

(Y,

O MT-003 A MT-003-R MT-001

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Mean Temperature, K

Figure 23. Comparison of relative deviation of experimental data (open

squares) for PPMI film specimen MT-001 (25 ^m) with both calculated thermal conductivity (fitted curve) and experimental data

(open circles and triangles) for film specimen MT-003 (76 /im)

51
Table 17. Experimental conductivity and AT/Q per layer of film

as a function of applied mechanical pressure.

Pressure

MPa

Calculated AT/Q

per layer of film

K/w

Apparent Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

4.8 0.562 0,456 Ice-water

4.8 0.564 0.455

7.2 0.545 0.470

7.2

1 O

0.545

r\ c o 1 0.470n /.no 12 U . D21 U . 4^2

14 0.519 0.494

17 0.525 0.488

17 0.525 0.488

4.8 1.060 0.242 LN

7.2 0.998 0.257

7.2 0.999 0.256

12 0.945 0.271

14 0.938 0.273

14 0.936 0.274

17 0.943 0.272

17 0.945 0.271

4.8 11.37 0.022 LHe

7.2 11.25 0.023

CM 11.28 0.023

12 10.33 0.025

14 9.79 0.026

14 10.00 0.026

17 10.44 0.024

52
(Delta

T)/Q,

„

.

,

for

76

fim

Film,

O DRY A GREASED 252 MT-001

0.675

0.650

0.625

0.600

0.575

0.550

0.525

0.500

50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275

Number of Contacts

Figure 24. Thermal contact resistance, AT/Q, per layer of PPMI film, at a

mean specimen temperature of 277.5 K, as a function of number of

interfacial contacts. Open triangles and squares represent

specimens composed of greased interfaces, and the open circle is

for one specimen of ungreased (dry) interfaces, for 76-/im (MT003: 0.003 in) PPMI film. The open square represents thermal

resistance for 252 layers of 25-/im (MT-001: 0.001 in) film; the

value has been scaled by a factor of 3 to give the equivalent

resistance per layer of 84 (252/3) layers 0.003 in thick. The

resistance per layer for the values for MT-003 and the scaled

value for the much larger number of layers of MT-001 agree

within experimental uncertainty. This shows the absence of any

measurable dependence of conductivity on thickness, and that

contact resistance for greased interfaces is negligible. The

straight line is a least-squares fit to the points for greased

interfaces. The open circle at 84 layers, 0.66 K/W, lies 0.14

K/W (27 percent) higher than the line; the difference represents

the contact resistance of the interface between two adiacent dry

films

53
(AT)/Q*pecfor

urn

Film,

K/W

(AT)/Q,p,jfor

urn

Film,

K/W

0.60

0.58

0.56

0.54

0.52

0.50

(a)

T;

±2%.

i

10 20

PRESSURE, MPa

5

E

il

E

im.

«*- o

u

S.

(0 o

(b)

1.05 \

-

1.00 \ -

0.95 \

+

T . § 1 « ±2%

0.90

C

i

> 10 20

PRESSURE, MPa

Figure 25. Thermal contact resistance, AT/Q, per layer of 76-/im PPMI film

(specimen MT-003-P), as a function of mechanical pressure, at

mean specimen temperatures of (a) 277.8 K (ice), (b) 80.3 K (LN)

and (c) 8.3 K (LHe) . Data points in each plot represent

contact resistance for a different specimen (MT-003) of the same

material under the same conditions, calculated from table 12.

Points "X" represent contact resistance for specimen MT-003-R of

the same material under the same conditions , calculated from data

in table 13. Error bars for each curve provide scales with which

to judge the amount of scatter in the data. At all measurement

temperatures, experimental reproducibility (imprecision) is

within about 2 percent. Within this imprecision, contact

resistance appears to become independent of pressure, for

pressures above about 12 MPa (1.7 kpsi) , at all three mean

temperatures

54
Apparent

Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m*K)

Pressure, MPa

Figure 26. Thermal conductivity as a function of mechanical pressure,

corresponding to the data for thermal contact resistance shown in

figure 24. Mean specimen temperatures are: (a) open circles:

277.8 K (ice); (b) triangles: 80.3 K (LN) ; (c) open squares: 8.3

K (LHe) . Refer to the caption for figure 25 for the explanation

and importance of the error bars. Within experimental imprecision, conductivity appears to become independent of pressure, for

pressures above about 12 MPa (1.7 kpsi)

,

at all three mean

temperatures

55
Table 18. Experimental conductivity as a function of temperature

for PPMI film HN-Heat.

AT

Setting

Average

Temperature

Ke Ivin

Thermal

Conductivity

W/(m-K)

Cold

Bath

1 4.640 0.012 LHe

2 5.165 0.013

4 6.238 0.017

8 8.435 0.024

16 13.123 0.039

32 23.044 0.069

32 42.859 0.117

2 77.109 0.196 LN2 4 78.274 0.198

16 85.172 0.209

16 85.181 0.210

31.7 94.324 0.223

32 94.496 0.222

58.2 110.059 0.241

1 192.638 0.315 CO2 -alcohol

2 193.281 0.319

8 197.140 0.322

16 202.337 0.329

32 212.864 0.338

52.3 226.339 0.340

1 273.788 0.370 Ice-water

2 274.425 0.370

2 274.426 0.370

4 275.704 0.369

8 278.267 0.371

16 283.415 0.373

32 293.823 0.379

36 296.450 0.380

56
O HN-003 A HN-Heat

a

•H

>

•H

Figure 27. Intercomparison of the thermal conductivity of 76-/im PPMI film

before (HN-003) and after (HN-Heat) a heat treatment at 150°C for

ninety minutes

57
o HN-003 A HN-Heat

Figure 28, Relative deviations of experimental data for 76-/im PPMI film

specimen before (HN-003: open circles) and after (HN-Heat: open

triangles) heat treatment, from calculated thermal conductivity

(curve fitted to data for HN-003) . The similarity in magnitude

of deviations shows that the heat treatment had no measurable

effect on the thermal conductivity of the film, within experimental imprecision.

58
Thermal

Conductivity,

W/(m-K)

O MT-003 A MTL-003 H-003 V HN-003 • Ref 7,10

Ref 16,18 + Ref 17 X Ref 6,12-15 —Ref 11 Ref 8

Figure 29. Thermal conductivity of PPMI film specimens composed of layers

of film 76 /im thick, as in figure 21. Conductivity data for

Kapton or other poiyimide films (crosses; Refs. 6, 12-15, 17),

Vespel (filled circles; Refs. 7, 10), Kerimid (filled square;-

Ref. 8), polyethylene (narrow box; Ref. 11), and Mylar (filled

triangles; Refs. 16, 18) are also given for intercomparison.

59
APPENDIX A

H-003

Figure Al. (Lower): Image, from a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), of a

single film of type H unfilled (neat) PPMI (thickness : 76 ^m) on

which a gold layer 30 nm thick was deposited to define the

surface. The horizontal line segment bounded by two vertical

markers shows the path used to scan the surface roughness.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile along the path parked on

the lower STM image, which two triangles marking the portion of

the scan corresponding to the segment on the lower image . The

grid units are in nanometers. This film specimen was not mounted

completely flat, leading to the non-zero slope of the trace from

left to right in the image; the surface roughness is

approximately 67 nm.

60
HN-003

Figure A2. (Lower): STM image of type HN unfilled (neat) PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /xm) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper) : The surface roughness profile for a scan across the

surface (grid units: nm) . The surface roughness is approximately

32 nm.

61
MTL-003

Figure A3. (Lower): STM images of type MTL alumina- filled PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /xm) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile along the path marked on

the lower STM image, with two triangles marking the portion of

the scan corresponding to the segment on the lower image. The

surface roughness appears to be approximately 250 nm, with some

peaks (light regions in the lower image) measuring 1000 nm.

62
MT-003

Figure A4. (Lover): STM images of type MT alumina-filled PPMI film

(thickness: 76 /xm) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile along the path marked on

the lower STM image, with two triangles marking the portion of

the scan corresponding to the segment on the lower image . The

surface roughness appears to be approximately 250 nm, with some

peaks (light regions in the lower image) measuring 750 nm.

63
MT-001

Figure A3. (Lower): STM images of type MIL alumina-filled PPMI film

(thickness: 25 /im) with a 30 nm gold deposition layer.

(Upper): The surface roughness profile along the path marked on

the lower STM image, with two triangles marking the portion of

the scan corresponding to the segment on the lower image. The

surface roughness appears to be approximately 250 nm.

64
REFERENCES

[1] K. W. Garrett and H. M. Rosenberg, "The Thermal Conductivity of EpoxyResin/Powder Composite Materials", J. Phys . D: Appl. Phys . 7, 1247-1258

(1974)

[2] C. Schmidt, "Influence of the Kapitza Resistance on the Thermal Conductivity of Filled Epoxies", Cryogen. 15/1,17-20 (1975).

[3] F. F. T. de Araujo and H. M, Rosenberg, "The Thermal Condcutivity of

Epoxy-Resin/Metal -Powder Composite Materials from 1.7 to 300 K" , J. Phys.

D: Appl. Phys. 9, 665-675 (1976).

[4] R. E. Meredith and C. W. Tobias, "Resistance to Potential Flow through a

Cubical Array of Spheres", J. Appl. Phys. 31/7, 1270-3 (1960).

[5] Rayleigh, Lord, "On the Influence of Obstacles Arranged in Rectangular

Order Upon the Properties of a Medium", Phil. Mag. 34, 481-502 (1892).

[6] R. Radebaugh, N. V. Frederick and J. D. Siegwarth, "Flexible Laminates for

Thermally Grounded Terminal Strips and Shielded Electrical Leads at Low

Temperatures", Cryogen. 13/1, 41-43 (Jan 1973).

[7] M. Locatelli, D. Arnaud and M. Routin, "Thermal Conductivity of Some

Insulating Materials Below 1 K" , Cryogen. 16/6, 374-375 (1976).

[8] G. Claudet, F. Disdier and M. Locatelli, "Interesting Low-Temperature

Thermal and Mechanical Properties of a Particular Powder-Filled Polyimide" , pp. 131-140 in Nonmetailic Materials and Composites at Low Temperatures, Ed. by A.F. Clark, R.P. Reed and G. Hartwig (Plenum, N.Y. , 1979).

[9] D. Howling, E. Mendoza and J. Zimmerman, "Preliminary Experiments on the

Temperature -wave Method of Measuring Specific Heats of Metals at Low

Temperatures", Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A. 229, 86-109 (1955).

[10] M. Van de Voorde , "Temperature Irradiation Effects on Materials and

Components for Superconducting Magnets for High Energy Physics Applications", CERN 77-03 ISR Division (July 1977).

[11] A. C. Muller, "Properties of Plastic Tapes for Cryogenic Power Cable

Insulation", pp . 339-363 in Nonmetailic Materials and Composites at Low

Temperatures . ed. by A.F. Clark, R.P. Reed and G. Hartwig (Plenum, N.Y.,

1979) .

[12] Stefan L. Wipf. "Low-Temperature Heat Transfer by Contact in Vacuo, and

Thermal Conductivity of Kapton" , Proc. of the 9th Int. Conf. on Magnet

Technology, C. Marinucci and P. Weymuth, Eds., pp . 692-695 (Swiss Inst.

Nucl. Res., Villigen, 1985).

[13] C. L. Choy, W. P. Leung and Y. K. Ng. "Thermal Diffusivity of Polymer

Films by the Flash Radiometry Method", J. Pol)nni. Sci.: Part B: Polym.

Phys. 25, 1779-1799 (1987).

65
REFEEUENCES Cont'd

[14] A. Witek, 0. Guerrero and David G. Onn. "Comparison of Two Techniques

for Thermal Transport Studies in Polymer-Based Thick Films", to be

published, 1990.

[15] David K. Lambert, "Polyimide Film on Silicon: Use of IR Emission Modulation to Obtain Thermal Conductivity", to be published (1989).

[16] R. C. Steere, "Thermal Properties of Thin-Film Polymers by Transient

Heating", J. Appl. Phys . 37/9, 3338-3344 (1966).

[17] J. G. Hust and R. Boscardin. "Thermal Conductivity of Polyester-amideimide Film", Cryogen. 21/5, 297-298 (1981).

[18] Hoosung Lee. "Rapid Measurement of Thermal Conductivity of Polymer

Films", Rev. Sci. Instrum. 53/6, 884-887 (1982').

[19] J. G. Hust and J. Arvidson. "Thermal Conductivity of Glass Fiber/Epoxy

Composite Support Bands for Cryogenic Dewars", National Institute of!

Standards and Technology (U.S.), Internal Report No. 275.03-78-2, (1978).

I

i [20] J. G. Hust and A. B. Lankford. "Comments on the Measurement of Thermal

j Conductivity and Presentation of a Thermal Conductivity Integral Method" ,

Int. J. Thermophys. 3/1, 67-77 (1982).

66
114A

H>) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET

1 . PUBUCATION OR REPORT NUMBER

NISTIR 3948

2. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER

3. PUBUCATION DATE

August 1990

riTLE AND SUBTITLE

hemal Conductivity, From 4.2 to 300 K, of PPMI Film, With and Without Alumina

articles as Filler _____

ennis L. Rule, David R. Smith, and Larry L. Sparks

>ERFORMING ORGANIZATION (IF JOINT OR OTHER THAN NIST, SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

J.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

«IATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

SOULDER, COLORADO 80303-3328

7. CONTRACT/GRANT NUMBER

8. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS (STREET. CITY. STATE. ZIP)

3SC Laboratory

2550 Beckleymeade Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75237-3946

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

VBSTRACT (A 200-WORD OR LESS FACTUAL SUMMARY OF MOST SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION. IF DOCUMENT INCLUDES A SIGNIFICANT BIBUOGRAPHY OR

JTERATURE SURVEY, MENTION IT HERE.) /

The thermal conductivity of several types of a commercial

polyimide (specifically, polypyromellitimide : PPMI) film was

measured over a range of temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K using

an unguarded steady-state parallel-plate apparatus. Specimens

were made by stacking multiple layers of film together.

Conductive grease was used between layers of film to reduce

thermal contact resistance. Two specimens were made from two

different types of neat (unadmixed) film with a thickness of

76 /im, and three specimens were made from films containing two

different amounts of admixed alumina filler and having thicknesses of 25 fim or 76 /im. The conductivity of PPMI film increases with the amount of alumina filler present. The thermal

conductivity of specimens made from film of the same type but

of different thickness is independent of film thickness, within

the limits of experimental uncertainty. The thermal conductivity of a specimen subjected to a simulated curing process by

being held at a temperature of 150°C for ninety minutes was

indistinguishable from that of a similar, control specimen not

subjected to such treatment.

tCEY WORDS (6 TO 12 ENTRIES; ALPHABETICAL ORDER; CAPITAUZE ONLY PROPER NAMES; AND SEPARATE KEY WORDS BY SEMICOLONS)

alumina; conductivity; contact; low temperature; PPMI; polyimide flim; polymer;

poly-pyro-mellitimide ; resistance; thermal

iVAILABIUTY

c UNUMITED

FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT RELEASE TO NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE (NTIS).

ORDER FROM SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, DC 20402. ORDER FROM NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE (NTIS), SPRINGFIELD. VA 22161.

14. NUMBER OF PRINTED PAGES

80

IS. PRICE

>TRONIC FORM

u.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1990-573-509/45013
- I i '

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IR 3949

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