Thermal Grease

[J. Forster]

Scott Johnson wrote:

> I have seen ZnO in silicone grease, Indium washers, BeO washers, plain
> silicone grease, and ZnO in petroleum grease, but NEVER BeO grease. Some
> space hardware does, however make use of beryllium metal (it is light and a
> good thermal conductor) as a backplane material.  It was used in Motorola's
> Iridium program.
> Scott

Beryllium metal particles are very toxic and very special machining techniques
are needed for any dust producing operations, but a chunk of the metal is
essentially harmless and does not require special handling. I've used it for
optics (mirrors) and gyroscope components.

-John

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