Diamond Heatsink Any One?

[Ed_Phoon]

Do you know what's the best heat conductive material?
Yes, diamond.
Thermal conductivity of diamond = 550 W/m degreeC
That's more than 2 times faster than Aluminium!

 

[FatBurger]

I thought silver was above diamond, but I could easily be wrong.

A diamond heatsink...mmm

Actually, you're right. I was "watching" a show on diamonds on TLC on Friday night. They talked about the thermal properties.
I say "watching" because the TV was on while we were playing Ghost Recon

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[knowan]

For a while back in the 80's they were talking about creating processors out of diamonds. Not only are diamonds thermally stabler, they also are immune to RF, magnetic fields and radiation. That made them perfect for sending into space, as you wouldn't have to shield them, decreasing the weight of the payload. It never really got off the ground though (pun intended), as they never could get the fabrication process perfected.

If you read Michael Crichton's "Congo" or see the movie, that's why they were after the diamonds, for use in electrical appliances.

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[Ed_Phoon]

I WANT DIAMOND HEATSINK !
I WANT DIAMOND PROCESSOR !
I WANT DIAMOND RAM !
(but i know i can not afford it)

 

[HonestJhon]

good point...maybe the richer can give them to the less fortunate of us....


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[peteb]

That's gret - but the fabrication process is going to be hard. How do you build something to be effective? You need to fab all those pins/fins etc. and bond them somehow.

I'm guessing they are talking proper diamond also, not commercially made ones.

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[silverpig]

Little sidenote here on diamonds... They're actually not perfectly stable under standard conditions and should revert to graphite after enough time.

Lyrics. Wasted time between solos.

 

[HonestJhon]

huh....arent diamond carbon???
and why would they revert....i dont get it...throw me a bone here.

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[peteb]

New one on me there - and I'm sure they are okay for te average life of the USER - let alone the 2-5 years you'll keep a cpu!!! Mind you, they'd want to last a long time if they cost $10,000....

Hey - if they made cpus out of diamond, and you fried it by ocing - it'd make a much nicer looking necklace or keychain than a ceramic or organic cpu with silicon!!!!

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[silverpig]

Yep, diamonds are carbon, as is graphite. But the natural state for carbon at standard pressure and temperature is graphite. Diamond forms only under intense heat and pressure, and is the stable form of carbon under those conditions. It takes a long time at extreme conditions to make graphite turn into diamond, and it takes a long long time for diamond to turn back into graphite, but it would happen.

Just find a chemistry book that deals with P-T diagrams for different substances. These diagrams show what states of the substance exist at what combinations of temperature and pressure. If you can find the one for carbon, it will clearly show graphite as being the native stable form for standard temperatures and pressures.

Lyrics. Wasted time between solos.

 

[knowan]

If you fried the CPU, you'd do more than fry it. You would burn it up. Don't forget that diamonds are made of carbon, the same thing that coal and charcoal is made of. It will burn up under high enough temperatures, same as coal does.

As for industrial "man-made" diamonds, they can't make them big enough to become a heatsink. Man made diamonds are always quite small, the largest being about half the size of your fingertip. Of course, my info is about 8 years out of date (I did a paper on diamonds in University). Who knows, they might have perfected a new/better process by now.

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[peteb]

Just because diamond is carbon, I don't think it is particularily prone to going up in flames - if you take a piece of coal, it won't cut through glass, but both coal and diamond are carbon.... I think it is safe to say that the physical properties of each are different.

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[J-man80]

Don't you have to heat diamond to 600-800c before it will burn? If your CPU is that hot, I imagine your computer is a smoldering puddle and toxic vapor. I heard that cooling technology is the only thing hindering us from creating super processors. Maybe diamond will some day be the answer!