Power dissipation in electronic devices is projected to increase significantly over the next ten years to the range of 50-150 Watts per cm2 for high performance applications [1]. This increase in power represents a major challenge to systems integration since the maximum device temperature needs to be around 100 C. One of the primary obstacles to the thermal management of devices operating at such high powers is the thermal resistance between the device and the heat spreader or heat sink that it is attached to. Typically the in situ thermal conductivity of interface materials is in the range of 1 to 4 W/mK, even though the bulk thermal conductivity of the material may be significantly higher. In order to improve the effective in-situ thermal conductivity of interface materials nanotubes are being considered as a possible addition to such interfaces. The primary approach taken in the current study is to analyze the enhancement of the thermal interface by adding carbon nano tubular cylinders that are oriented in the direction of transport. This paper presents the results of an analytical study of transport in a thermal interface material that is enhanced with carbon nanotubes. A variety of parametric analyses are carried out, such as by varying the inner diameter of the nanotube and the power dissipation, and the effect on spreading resistance is calculated. The results indicate that for high thermal conductivity nanotubes there is a significant increase in the effective thermal conductivity of the thermal interface material.

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