WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have created a method of growing forests of nanotubes on the surfaces of computer chips to enhance the flow of heat at critical points.

Lead researcher Placidus Amama of Purdue University's Birck Nanotechnology Center said the carpet-like growth of nanotubes outperforms conventional thermal interface materials, while not requiring elaborate clean-room environments. That, in itself, represents a possible low-cost manufacturing approach to keep future chips from overheating and reduce the size of cooling systems, the researchers said.

The method developed by the Purdue engineers enables them to create a nanotube interface that conforms to a heat sink's uneven surface, conducting heat with less resistance than comparable interface materials currently in use by industry, said doctoral student Baratunde Cola.

The research that also included Timothy Sands, director of the Birck center, and Professors Xianfan Xu and Timothy Fisher, appeared in the September issue of the journal Nanotechnology.