ATS’s design services and manufacturing have delivered zipper fin (or stacked fin) heat sinks, in both aluminum and copper, or a combination of both materials, through our design services for the past few years. Our work has included zipper fin heat sinks with copper bases, embedded heat pipes and as standalone heat sinks. In some cases, our zipper fin heat sinks have been attached to semiconductors using either our maxiGRIP(tm) or superGRIP(tm) heat sink attachment technology, with phase change thermal interface material.
Zipper fin heat sinks are manufactured using a single sheet of metal, most often copper or aluminum. They are manufactured in such a way that the fins interlock creating high fin density at a reasonable manufacturing cost. The unique manufacturing of a zipper fin heat sink can allow for unique, asymmetric and or radial fin geometries with the option to accommodate embedded heat pipes. Zipper fin manufacturing also allows for heat sinks to be formed into a duct so that it creates a ducted flow for increased thermal conductivity.
[ATS Zipper Fin Heat Sink, from aluminum, with integrated copper base plate and the zipper finned heat sink including a duct in the design for ducted air flow through the heat sink]
Zipper fin heat sinks can be a less expensive alternative to skived heat sinks or folded fin heat sinks. Their thermal performance is similar but with a lower manufacturing cost.
[ATS Zipper Fin Heat Sink made with aluminum zipper fins, embedded heat pipes and copper plate]
We have just published an interview with one of our engineers on our zipper fin heat sinks; it lasts about 8 minutes and talks through what ATS offers, and the differences between the various high fin density heat sink manufacturing types, so see it, or read the transcript, just click to this article on our blog: High Fin Density Heat Sink Manufacturing, Is Zipper Fin Best?
If you have questions on our Zipper Fin or other high fin density heat sinks, please email us at hq-ats@qats.com or call us at 781-949-2521.