Liquid metal

About: Liquid metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6947 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77785 citations. The topic is also known as: liquid alloy & liquid metal alloy.

Infiltration of Fibrous Preforms by a Pure Metal: Part IV. Morphological Stability of the Remelting Front

Abstract: The injection of pure liquid metal into a fibrous preform initially at a temperature below the melting point of the metal results in partial solidification of the metal as it contacts the fibers. If the infiltrating metal is superheated, continued infiltration remelts this solid metal at a sharp front which propagates through the fiber preform. Because the permeability of the remelted region is greater than that of the partially solidified region, there is a driving force for the remelted region to advance in an unstable manner. In the present work, the morphological stability of a simplified infiltration system (steady-state, unidirectional, adiabatic infiltration with a pure metal) is analyzed using linear stability analysis. The resulting analytical solution illustrates the relationship between front stability and relevant processing parameters. The practical result of the derivation is that a stable remelting front can be maintained by keeping the infiltration velocity below a certain critical value.

Counterflow thermoelectric configuration employing thermal transfer fluid in closed cycle

Abstract: Active cooling technologies such as thermoelectrics can be used to introduce thermal “gain” into a cooling system and, when employed in combination with forced flow liquid metal cooling loops, can provide an attractive solution for cooling high heat flux density devices and/or components. Total cooling power can be increased by employing multiple thermoelectric elements. Indeed, by employing modern semiconductor technologies, including e.g., thin-film technologies, thermoelectric elements may be cost-effectively employed and configured in large arrays.

Spreading of liquid AuSi on vapor-liquid-solid-grown Si nanowires.

Abstract: Vapor−liquid−solid growth of high-quality Si nanowires relies on the stability of the liquid metal seed. In situ transmission electron microscopy shows that liquid AuSi seed spreads along the sidewalls of Si nanowires for some growth conditions. This liquid thin film phase separates to form solid Au clusters as the nanowire is quenched below the solidus temperature. The length that the liquid film spreads from the seed and its thickness can be explained by considering the spreading thermodynamics of droplets on cylinders.

Thermal contact resistance across a copper-silicon interface

Abstract: An experimental setup to measure the thermal contact conductance across a silicon-copper (Si-Cu) interface is described, and the results obtained are presented. The resulting thermal contact resistance data are used in estimating the thermo-mechanical and optical performance of optical substrates cooled by interfaced copper cooling blocks. Several factors influence the heat transfer across solid interfaces. These include the material properties, interface pressure, flatness and roughness of the contacting surfaces, temperature, and interstitial material, if any. Results presented show the variation of thermal contact conductance as a function of applied interface pressure for a Cu-Si interface. Various interstitial materials investigated include iridium foil, silver foil and a liquid eutectic (Ga-In-Sn). As expected, thermal contact resistance decreases as interface pressure increases, except in the case of the eutectic, in which it was nearly constant. The softer the interstitial material, the lower the thermal contact resistance, Liquid metal provides the lowest thermal contact resistance across the Cu-Si interface, followed by the iridium foil, and then the silver foil.