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High Thermal Conductivity, Stability, and Fatigue Resistance of Pure Tantalum: Materials for Quantum Computing Heat Dissipation Components

During operation, although the core components of quantum computing devices operate in extremely low-temperature environments, auxiliary circuits and cooling systems still generate heat. If this heat cannot be dissipated efficiently and promptly, it will affect the efficiency of the cooling system and may even cause the temperature of the core components to rise, compromising the stability of the qubit states. Therefore, heat dissipation components are an indispensable and crucial part of quantum computing devices, and the thermal conductivity, heat dissipation stability, and fatigue resistance of their materials directly determine the efficiency and reliability of the heat dissipation system. Pure tantalum, as a high-performance metallic material, significantly outperforms commonly used heat dissipation metals such as copper, aluminum, and nickel-based alloys in quantum computing heat dissipation components due to its excellent high thermal conductivity stability, good heat dissipation adaptability, and superior fatigue resistance.

Thermal conductivity is a core performance indicator of heat dissipation materials, representing their ability to transfer heat. Traditional heat dissipation materials such as copper and aluminum have high thermal conductivity at room temperature; copper has a thermal conductivity of approximately 401 W/(m·K), and aluminum has a thermal conductivity of approximately 237 W/(m·K), thus they are widely used in the heat dissipation of conventional electronic devices. However, in the heat dissipation systems of quantum computing devices, heat dissipation components need to adapt to alternating environments of room temperature and low temperatures (such as the heat exchange parts of a refrigeration system), making the thermal conductivity stability of materials crucial. Copper and aluminum exhibit significant fluctuations in thermal conductivity under large temperature variations. For example, when the temperature drops from room temperature to 100 K, the thermal conductivity of copper decreases to approximately 100 W/(m·K), and that of aluminum decreases to approximately 50 W/(m·K), resulting in a significant reduction in heat dissipation efficiency. Furthermore, copper and aluminum have poor fatigue resistance, and during long-term thermal cycling, they are prone to thermal stress fatigue cracks, affecting the structural integrity and reliability of heat dissipation components.

While the thermal conductivity of pure tantalum is lower than that of copper and aluminum at room temperature (approximately 54 W/(m·K)), its thermal conductivity stability is excellent under large temperature variations. Experimental data shows that when the temperature drops from room temperature to 100 K, the thermal conductivity of pure tantalum only decreases to 45 W/(m·K), with a fluctuation range of only 16.7%, far lower than the 75% of copper and 78.9% of aluminum. This excellent thermal conductivity stability allows pure tantalum heat sinks to maintain stable heat dissipation efficiency in environments with alternating room temperature and low temperatures, avoiding heat accumulation caused by fluctuations in heat dissipation efficiency. Furthermore, pure tantalum also exhibits excellent high-temperature thermal conductivity; even at 500℃, its thermal conductivity remains above 40 W/(m·K), capable of withstanding potentially localized high-temperature environments within the heat sink.

Pure tantalum also demonstrates significant advantages in fatigue resistance and structural stability. Heat sinks in quantum computing devices need to withstand long-term alternating thermal cycles, and the material's fatigue resistance directly determines the lifespan of the heat sink. Pure tantalum has high tensile strength (approximately 260 MPa), excellent elongation (approximately 35%), and good toughness and fatigue resistance. After multiple thermal cycling tests (from 25℃ to 100 K, then back to 25℃), pure tantalum heat sinks showed no fatigue cracks or deformation, maintaining good structural integrity. In contrast, copper and aluminum heat sinks, after the same number of thermal cycling tests, showed obvious fatigue cracks on their surfaces, and their structural strength decreased by more than 30%. Furthermore, pure tantalum possesses extremely strong chemical inertness, resisting corrosion from coolants (such as liquid helium and liquid nitrogen) and other chemical media present in the heat dissipation system, thus preventing a decline in heat dissipation performance due to material corrosion. In practical applications, pure tantalum has been used to manufacture key heat dissipation components for quantum computing devices, such as heat exchangers in cooling systems, heat sinks for auxiliary circuits, and heat dissipation layers in vacuum chambers. A quantum computing device manufacturer using pure tantalum in its heat exchanger exhibits a heat dissipation efficiency fluctuation of only 5% during thermal cycling, far lower than the 25% of copper exchangers and 30% of aluminum exchangers, ensuring stable operation of the cooling system. Simultaneously, this exchanger showed no corrosion or fatigue damage during long-term use, with a lifespan more than twice that of copper and aluminum exchangers. Compared to expensive titanium-aluminum alloys, pure tantalum not only possesses comparable thermal conductivity stability and fatigue resistance but is also cheaper, simpler to process, and more suitable for the mass production of heat dissipation components.

In summary, pure tantalum demonstrates significant advantages in quantum computing heat dissipation components due to its excellent thermal conductivity stability, good heat dissipation adaptability, and superior fatigue resistance, far surpassing commonly used heat dissipation metals such as copper, aluminum, and nickel-based alloys. As quantum computing devices become larger and more powerful, the importance of heat dissipation systems will become increasingly prominent, and the application prospects of pure tantalum in the field of quantum computing heat dissipation materials will be even broader, providing crucial support for ensuring the stable and efficient operation of quantum computing devices.

AlloyHit specializes in producing Tantalum sheets, Tantalum rods, Tantalum wires, Tantalum targets, and Tantalum tubes in various specifications.