US Patent 7764069 Process for measuring bond-line thickness

A process for measuring the thickness of an insulating material. The process includes providing a device used to measure capacitance, and electrically connecting the capacitance measuring device to a heat sink and an electrical, heat-generating component. The thickness of the insulating material is determined by measuring the capacitance of the insulating material according to the formula;B=∈r∈oA/C, where B is the thickness of the insulating material, C is the capacitance, A is the area of the heat generating component, ∈o is the permittivity of free space and ∈r is the relative dielectric constant of the insulating material.