Aluminum Heatsinks
Copper - a metal with a much higher rate of thermal conductivity - is also used to construct heatsinks, and can actually be used in conjunction with aluminum to optimize the effectiveness of the heatsink. Many heatsinks that join copper and aluminum together will include a base that is made out of copper while the fins are constructed as thin slivers of aluminum connected strongly to the base and extruded out into the air. The advantage to this type of extrusion system is that the copper is able to more effectively carry heat from its source to the lighter cooling fins.
An alternative to bonding two metals together is found in the process of creating a heatsink made entirely out of aluminum. This can be done with Skived Fin Technology, or the cutting out of the whole heatsink from the same block of metal. Aluminum heatsinks built in this way have the conductive advantage of no possible interruptions in thermal flow between the base of the heatsink and its fins. While not make use of the higher conductivity of copper, skived aluminum is nonetheless very effective as a heatsink.
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