Quick question about Aluminum Nitride's conductivity

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the thermal and electrical conductivity of Aluminum Nitride (AlN), particularly in relation to its potential use as an insulator for a motherboard encased in a heat sink. Participants explore the material's properties and its suitability for insulating against 120VAC.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the thermal conductivity of Aluminum Nitride compared to copper and its effectiveness as an electrical insulator for 120VAC.
  • Several participants emphasize the importance of conducting prior research before posting questions, suggesting that the information is readily available online.
  • Another participant mentions the dielectric strength of Aluminum Nitride, providing a range of 1.2–1.8×10^5 V/mm, and suggests that this indicates it can insulate against 120VAC when considering appropriate thickness.
  • One participant humorously notes that the effectiveness of insulation could depend on the thickness of the material, implying that very thin layers may not suffice.
  • A later reply confirms that a sheet of Aluminum Nitride a few microns thick should insulate against 120VAC, providing reassurance to the original poster.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

While some participants provide information that suggests Aluminum Nitride can insulate against 120VAC, there is no consensus on the exact thermal conductivity compared to copper or the specific conditions under which it can be effectively used. The discussion remains somewhat unresolved regarding the precise comparison of thermal conductivities.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about how to interpret the dielectric strength values and their relevance to practical applications. There is also a lack of clarity on the exact thermal conductivity of Aluminum Nitride relative to copper, as no specific multiple is provided.

FirewallDaProto
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TL;DR
What's Aluminum Nitrides thermal and electrical conductivity? will it insulate against 120V AC?
Whats its thermal conductivity compared to copper? (as in x times worse than copper)
also, How electrically insulate is it? I'm looking to see if i can use it to encase an entire motherboard in a giant heat sink for a future project where i want to try and cool the entire motherboard to subzero temps.
(sorry if this is worded weirdly, I am not very into physics but i thought this would be a place to find an answer, at the very least, just answer yes or no if it can insulate 120VAC)
 
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anorlunda said:
:welcome:

Please do a search before posting here. If you still have questions after the search, then you're welcome to post.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Aluminum+Nitride+conductivity&ia=web
I did some basic searching, but I am not good with the complicated format, i was mainly just asking for someone to simplify, thermal conductivity to a multiple of coppers, and a yes or no if it would insulate 120VAC.
 
PF rules require you to make an honest effort. We are here to help you after you have done that. Please note that we are all volunteers, not paid PF researchers.
 
jrmichler said:
PF rules require you to make an honest effort. We are here to help you after you have done that. Please note that we are all volunteers, not paid PF researchers.
ah, i understand. I did more research and i found the thermal characteristics are what i need, but i can't figure out how to find out if it'll insulate 120v AC. I've found it's dielectric strength, but have no idea how to get that into a number i can use. I managed to find that its dialectric strength was "1.2–1.8×105 V/mm" but like i said, to me that means gibberish and i tried to find out how to simplify it, but to no avail.
EDIT: i found this, and I am trying to make sense of the numbers http://www.ioffe.ru/SVA/NSM/Semicond/AlN/ebasic.html
 
Search terms electrical conductivity aluminum nitride found several good hits, one of which states: The high thermal conductivity and excellent electrical insulation makes Aluminium Nitride suitable for a range of extreme environments and particularly suited to demanding electrical applications.

The ##1.2-1.8 X 10^5## V/mm is the breakdown voltage. It means that a sheet of aluminum nitride a few microns thick will insulate against 120 VAC.
 
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FirewallDaProto said:
nd a yes or no if it would insulate 120VAC.
One atom thick? Probably not. One mile? Probably.

It's a good insulator, but if you can't determine if it will work in your application from the resistivity it will be hard for us to help you.
 
jrmichler said:
Search terms electrical conductivity aluminum nitride found several good hits, one of which states: The high thermal conductivity and excellent electrical insulation makes Aluminium Nitride suitable for a range of extreme environments and particularly suited to demanding electrical applications.

The ##1.2-1.8 X 10^5## V/mm is the breakdown voltage. It means that a sheet of aluminum nitride a few microns thick will insulate against 120 VAC.
thank you, this is exactly what i needed
 

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