Abstract
The substantial increase in the transistor density of integrated circuits (ICs) in recent times has allowed considerable improvements in computing power. With increasing transistor and power density, the heat produced by modern ICs has increased significantly. This in turn has negative effects on the performance, reliability, and power consumption of the ICs. A solution to the IC’s complications caused by overheating is integrated cooling, in which cooling fluid is delivered through microchannel heat sinks on the backside of an IC. This meta-study will investigate two microfluidic cooling technologies. First, implementing varied size microfluidic channels close to the silicone substrate of the IC. Additionally, a micro-pin fin heat sink is integrated into the ICs’ fluidic microchannels. Different sized pin fins were used, to achieve a wider understanding of the application of pin fins in microfluidic cooling and compare the thermal performances of each cooling method. Integrated cooling subverts the need for suboptimal thermal interfaces and bulky heat-sinks, as well as reducing the intensity of localised hotspots commonly present in high-power electronics. Further, by locating the main heat exchange medium closer to the die of an IC, we reduce the number of thermal interfaces. This meta-study suggests that cylindrical micro-pin fin arrays with pitch longitude and latitude of 60μm and 120μm, are more thermally efficient than plain microfluidic cooling channels.
Highlights
IntroductionCompact processing density increases the power density within an advanced computer [1,2]
Introduction αAspect ratio height-to-width of a microchannel ΗcHeight of microchannel Wc: Width of microchannel Wpp: Pump power (W) Qv: Volumetric flow rate (m3/s) ΔP: Pressure drop (Pa) N: Number of microchannels Ac: Cross-sectional area of microchannel νc: velocity of fluid at inlet of microchannel e: thermal efficiency indexIn modern computers, compact processing density increases the power density within an advanced computer [1,2]
Microfluidic cooling was first introduced in 1981 by Tuckerman et al [4], in an attempt to improve the cooling of very large-scale circuits (VLSCs)
Summary
Compact processing density increases the power density within an advanced computer [1,2]. In traditional forms of cooling, such as direct mounted aluminum heat sinks, or water cooling, the interface between the cooler and the processor is relatively large in comparison to the nano-sized processors. These large interfaces and their design cause inefficiency in cooling, producing hotspots within the chip. In a more recent study Zhang et al, used a microfluidic heat sink (MFHS) to demonstrate the cooling of a 2-tier stack [5,16]. It was found that utilising a MFHS maintained the stack temperature below 50°C for a total power density of 200 W/cm in a two-tier stack, preventing the 3D IC from overheating
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