Electronics Solutions

TC-5688 Demonstrates Excellent Thermal Performance and Exceptional Resistance to Pump-Out in New Processor

Midland, Mich. – Dow Corning Corporation’s Electronics group today announced the immediate availability of DOW CORNING® TC-5688 Thermally Conductive Compound – an ultra-high-performance, non-curing thermal grease developed for use with Intel Corp.’s newest mobile microprocessor - Intel® Core®2 Extreme mobile processor QX9300.

The DOW CORNING® TC-5688 Thermally Conductive Compound and a variety of competitor thermal interface materials (TIMs) were subjected to extensive thermal stress evaluation with the Quad-Core mobile tester and live Intel Core2 Extreme mobile processor QX9300 testing. Dow Corning’s new thermal grease demonstrated the best initial thermal-resistance values of any competitor TIM tested on the Quad-Core mobile tester as well as exceptional resistance to pump-out, the tendency of some TIMs to migrate from their usage area after repeated thermal-expansion cycles, resulting in decreased performance. TC-5688 was the only thermal grease compound tested to exhibit sufficient reliability after repeated power cycling, while other thermal greases suffered severe degradation.

TC-5688 offers extremely low thermal resistance at 0.05 °C-cm2/W and a high level of thermal conductivity at 5.67 W/mK. It excels in real-world applications involving non-uniform substrates and varying bond line thicknesses. TC-5688 is also suitable for cooling other Intel processors and in a wide array of non-computing areas – including power, industrial and light-emitting diode (LED) applications – where highperformance, highly reliable thermal materials are required.

“Thermal greases are the preferred form of TIM for most computer assemblers because of their excellent thermal performance, low cost and ease of processing,” said Andrew Lovell from Dow Corning’s Thermal Materials Group. “We are very excited about the outstanding performance of our newest thermal grease developed for Intel Core2 Extreme mobile processor QX9300. We have been developing a broad portfolio of thermal materials in recent years, and the cutting-edge, market-leading capabilities of TC-5688 significantly strengthen our product offerings for the rapidly growing mobile PC market.”

Market researchers expect laptop computer shipments to reach 125 million in 2008 and to surpass desktop sales during 2010. TC-5688 is the ideal thermal material for this growing market since it provides excellent thermal performance and the highest reliability for the bare die processors used in laptop computers.

PC manufacturers use TIMs to carry heat away from microprocessors, graphics processors and other critical components, typically by applying a thin layer of the compound between a chip and a heat sink. Other emerging thermal materials markets include LEDs, flat-panel displays and a variety of communication and automotive products.

Dow Corning Electronics offers global technical support for the new material. Dow Corning’s Electronics group serves the needs of the electronics, optoelectronics and semiconductor industries with specialized, high-purity silicone- and siliconcontaining products and solutions.

For more information on Dow Corning Electronics’ full range of thermal management materials, visit www.dowcorning.com/electronics.

About Dow Corning
Dow Corning Corporation is a globally integrated provider of materials, application technology and services, and is focused on providing innovative technologies that help its customers to invent the future. For more information on Dow Corning, visit http://www.dowcorning.com. Dow Corning Corporation is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW). More than half of Dow Corning Corporation’s sales are outside the United States.

For more information, contact:

• Linda Coughlin, Dow Corning, + (989) 496 3475, electronics@dowcorning.com
• Bruce Hokanson, Loomis Group, +1 (360) 574 4000, hokanson@loomisgroup.com