High performance micro-channel air cooling

A high performance, compact air-cooling technology is discussed. It combines the microlaminar flow concept with an efficient heat sink design in order to achieve a cooling performance comparable to that of complex water-cooled modules. The thermal resistance of the microlaminar heat sinks was measured to be less than 2°C/W of power dissipated in a 1-cm² chip at an air flow rate of 2 ft³/min. The required air pressure depends on the desired volumetric efficiency. The capability to remove in excess of 600 W from a multichip module (25 chips at 25 W and 16% chip-to-substrate coverage) with a quiet 10-W tubeaxial fan has been demonstrated. The volume of the complete module, including the plenum and the fan, is only about 1 liter. The chips are held to a maximum temperature rise of 55°C above ambient. Even higher cooling performance at greater chip-to-substrate coverage was shown to be possible with larger air movers