Patent ID: 8080871

Claim:
An article of manufacture, comprising: a copper substrate with a surface; a catalyst on top of the copper substrate surface; and a thermal interface material that comprises a layer containing carbon nanotubes that contacts the catalyst, wherein the carbon nanotubes are oriented substantially perpendicular to the surface of the copper substrate; a Raman spectrum of the layer containing carbon nanotubes has a D peak at ˜1350 cm −1 with an intensity I D , a G peak at ˜1385 cm −1 with an intensity I G , and an intensity ratio I D /I G of less than 0.7 at a laser excitation wavelength of 514 nm; the thermal interface material comprising the layer containing carbon nanotubes has: a bulk thermal resistance, a contact resistance at an interface between the thermal interface material and the copper substrate, and a contact resistance at an interface between the thermal interface material and a solid-state device; and a summation of the bulk thermal resistance, the contact resistance at the interface between the thermal interface material and the copper substrate, and the contact resistance at the interface between the thermal interface material and the solid-state device has a value of 0.06 cm 2 K/W or less.