Multiphysics modeling of integrated microfluidic-thermoelectric cooling for stacked 3D ICs

Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D IC) are fabricated by vertically stacking a number of thinned dies on top of each other with interconnects between them. 3D IC can significantly improve circuit performance and offer the promise of integrating various technologies (memory, logic, RF, mixed-signal, optoelectronics) within a single block. This high-density integration however, causes severe thermal management problems. New cooling concepts and novel design tools are needed to accelerate the transition of 3D IC technology from research labs to the commercial market. The objective of this paper is two fold: to present novel multiphysics modeling tools CFD-ACE+ for 3D ICs, and to demonstrate how these tools have been used to design a new concept of thermoelectric-fluidic active cooling device for refrigerative thermal management of 3D IC.