German enthusiast Der8auer published a short excursion into material science and thermodynamics, which explains why Intel does not use solder for attaching the cover to the processor chip Skylake. We must start with the fact that processors Skylake thin enough substrate - PCB thickness not exceeding 0.78 mm, so the rigid connection of the cover and the crystal could lead to mechanical damage of the processor, and plastic thermal interface offsets and bends compensate. Operate Skylake without cover too dangerous because of the low mechanical strength of the substrate.
Secondly, the specific properties of the materials of which are made and which are covered with a heat spreader and a processor chip, it implies a quite complex process. For example, to solder the copper lid to the silicon chip, it is necessary to protect against oxidation layer of nickel, and for better contact with the indium solder cap needs a thin layer of gold on the inside of the heat spreader. Silicon chip processor also needs to cover the first titanium, then the alloy of nickel and vanadium, and then a layer of gold. Himself indium solder material is still quite expensive: it is produced annually in the world three times less than gold, and in terms of the cost per processor fit into the range of $ 2-5.
Processors with small die size (as Skylake) in the case of soldering the lid likely to suffer from microcracks occurring in the solder layer after repeated heating and cooling. Temperature cycle may have nothing to do with extreme overclocking and liquid nitrogen, but sparing mode of operation can cause the appearance of microcracks. The effectiveness of the thermal interface as a result of significantly reduced. But on processors with large crystals microcracks occur less frequently, so Haswell-E, for example, uses plastic instead of solder thermal interface.
It is the destruction of the solder under the influence of temperature cycles is the main reason for using plastic thermal interface in Skylake processors, argues Der8auer. By the way, he has conducted experiments with soldering the cover to the processor chip Skylake, but one of the prototypes was unable to pass the test under liquid nitrogen. Related Products :
|