UCLA researchers identify a metal with ~3× the heat conduction of copper, offering a potential leap in cooling for chips, AI accelerators, and next-gen electronic systems.
A UCLA-led research team has identified a metallic material whose ability to conduct heat surpasses all previously measured metals, a breakthrough that could reshape how electronics and high-performance computing manage thermal loads. The material, theta-phase tantalum nitride, exhibited an ultrahigh thermal conductivity of about 1,100 W/m·K in laboratory measurements, roughly three times that of copper, which has long been the industry standard for heat sinks and thermal paths. This new benchmark challenges conventional assumptions about heat transport limits in metals and suggests alternatives to copper and silver in heat-critical applications.
Published in Science and led by mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Yongjie Hu, the research shows that the material’s unique atomic structure/tantalum and nitrogen atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice drastically reduces electron-phonon interactions that normally bottleneck heat transfer in metals. These weak interactions allow heat, carried by electrons, to flow far more efficiently, verified through techniques such as synchrotron X-ray scattering and ultrafast optical spectroscopy.
Heat management remains a critical engineering challenge as modern electronics scale performance, especially in AI accelerators, high-density data centers, and advanced computing hardware, where localized hotspots degrade performance and reliability. Researchers note that copper, despite dominating about 30 % of the global thermal-management materials market, is nearing its practical limits as systems push higher power densities.
Beyond microelectronics, the team anticipates broader impacts including potential roles in aerospace systems and emerging quantum technologies where efficient thermal pathways can enable higher performance and longer lifetimes for sensitive components.Hu’s group has a track record in thermal materials discovery, having previously contributed to high-thermal-conductivity semiconductors and advanced thermal interfaces. This latest result adds a metallic option to the materials toolkit for engineers confronting heat dissipation at scale.
If integrated into device architectures and manufacturing processes, theta-phase tantalum nitride could accelerate innovation in cooling strategiesa key enabler as chips become denser and computational demands continue rising.
