Revolutionary Heat Transfer Material To Be Launched At Electronica 2010

MUNICH, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Elektron Ventures is today unveiling a brand new porous copper material that will transform cooling systems and enable faster processing clock speeds.

AdvarienCu – a pioneering copper foam created using a patented process – is materials efficient, non toxic and highly cost effective, and is being launched at international trade show electronica 2010 in Munich (9-12 November).

Tests by a leading academic research group found AdvarienCu-based liquid cooling devices to be three to ten times more effective at transferring heat into a passing coolant than a microchannel water block of similar size.

The innovative open cell copper foam allows significant controllable porosity from 50 – 85%, resulting in a vast specific surface area, making AdvarienCu an extremely effective material for exchanging heat into a passing cooling fluid. The benefits of copper for thermal management are well recognised, however AdvarienCu's open cell porous structure allows coolant fluid to carry heat away to a radiator more effectively than expensive micro-machined structures and removes the need to install a bulky fan.

Neill Ricketts, managing director of Elektron Ventures said: "AdvarienCu is a new and exciting material for the liquid cooling of semiconductor devices which offers users dramatic technical and commercial benefits.  It is a simple, cost-effective manufacturing process and we offer a superior lead time together with a dedicated technical support team. It is ideal for use in PCs, servers, supercomputers, games consoles and industrial power conditioning equipment."

AdvarienCu can be fused at an atomic level to a base plate, which coupled with its unprecedented surface area, ensures ground-breaking levels of heat transfer between device and cooling fluid. The process, known as Lost Carbonate Sintering (LCS) was developed by the University of Liverpool and has a world-wide patent in place.

AdvarienCu is a branded technology of Elektron Ventures, a division of Elektron plc. The company plans to develop further innovative Advarien advanced materials products using the pioneering LCS process.

Neill Ricketts added: "As the world's leading electronics trade fair, electronic 2010 is the ideal platform to launch AdvarienCu.  We will be using the event to demonstrate the benefits of the product to thermal management decision makers and end user design teams from around the world."  

www.advarien.com

Interviews available at Hall A2, Stand 156 at electronica 2010

Note to editors

Elektron Ventures is a division of Elektron plc (EKT: AIM)

www.elektronplc.com

The Lost Carbonate Sintering process (LCS) originated at the University of Liverpool and developed as a TSB-funded project involving several consortia partners – University of Liverpool, Total Carbide (an Elektron Ventures company), C-Tech Innovation, Thermacore Europe, Vacua-Therm Sales and Ecka Granules Metal Powders.  The project 'Micro-Porous Metals for Thermal Management' has been short-listed in the Manufacturing and Process Innovation category of The Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards 2010 being announced at The Royal Society, London on 3 December 2010.

SOURCE Elektron Ventures