As most readers are no doubt aware, the trend towards ever increasing processor module power is making it more and more difficult to cool directly with air. Many thermal engineers are convinced that water cooling may be the answer. This does not necessarily mean that cooling water must be supplied by the customer. Instead, in some instances it may be possible to use a … [Read more...]
The Challenge of Operating Computers at Ultra-low Temperatures
Although the potential for low temperature enhancement of CMOS circuit performance has been recognized for some time, circuit scaling (proportionally reducing the size of the circuit) has been the preferred method of achieving higher performance. But as minimum feature size passed well into the sub-micron and now into the nanometer region, this route to higher performance has … [Read more...]
Vapor Compression Cooling for High Performance Applications
Vapor compression refrigeration is being adapted to cool computer and telecommunications equipment in a limited number of high performance applications. Vapor compression can lift large heat loads and can heat sink at below ambient temperatures. Cold plates can offset high case-to-junction temperature gradients to keep high power integrated circuits from overheating and/or can … [Read more...]
Future trends in heat sink design
In today's electronics equipment, total system dissipated power levels are increasing with every new design. Increases in power levels combined with the market expectation of reduced package sizes lead to heat problems that, if uncontrolled, can significantly shorten the life of the electronics. Although this "increased power - decreased size" scenario has been prevalent for … [Read more...]
Low temperature electronic cooling
The potential for low temperature enhancement of CMOS performance has been recognized for some time, going back as far as the late 1960's and mid-1970's. A collection of articles focusing on low temperature electronics is included in the book by Kirschman(1) where a number of researchers [2-6] have identified the advantages of operating electronics at low temperatures. Jaeger … [Read more...]
