High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thermal grease (also called thermal gel, thermal compound, thermal paste, heat paste, heat sink paste or heat sink compound) is a viscous fluid substance, originally with properties akin to grease, which increases the thermal conductivity of a thermal interface by filling microscopic air-gaps present due to the imperfectly flat and smooth surfaces of the components; the compound has far greater thermal conductivity than air (but far less than metal). In electronics, it is often used to aid a component`s thermal dissipation via a heat sink.