How does 3D VC heatsink used in 5G application
With the rapid development of 5G technology, efficient cooling and thermal management have become important challenges in the design of 5G base stations. In this context, 3D VC technology (three-dimensional two-phase temperature equalization technology), as an innovative thermal management technology, provides a solution for 5G base stations.
Two phase heat transfer relies on the latent heat of phase change of the working fluid to transfer heat, which has the advantages of high heat transfer efficiency and good temperature uniformity. In recent years, it has been widely used in electronic equipment heat dissipation. According to the development trend of two-phase temperature equalization technology, from linear temperature equalization of one-dimensional heat pipes to planar temperature equalization of two-dimensional VC, it will eventually develop to three-dimensional integrated temperature equalization, which is the path of 3D VC technology; 3D VC connects the substrate cavity with the PCI tooth cavity through welding technology, forming an integrated cavity. The cavity is filled with working fluid and sealed. The working fluid evaporates on the inner cavity side of the substrate near the chip end and condenses on the inner cavity side of the tooth at the far heat source end. Through gravity driving and circuit design, a two-phase cycle is formed, achieving the ideal temperature equalization effect.
3D VC can significantly improve the average temperature range and heat dissipation capacity, with technical characteristics such as high thermal conductivity, good temperature uniformity, and compact structure; Through the integrated design of the substrate and heat dissipation teeth, 3D VC further reduces the heat transfer temperature difference, increases the uniformity of the substrate and heat dissipation teeth, improves the convective heat transfer efficiency, and can significantly reduce the chip temperature in high heat flux areas. It is the key to solving the heat problem in high heat flux scenarios of future 5G base stations, and provides the possibility for miniaturization and lightweight design of base station products.
5G base stations have locally high heat flux density chips, causing difficulties in local heat dissipation. Through current technologies such as thermal conductive materials, shell materials, and two-dimensional temperature equalization (substrate HP/tooth PCI), the thermal resistance of heat sinks can be reduced, but the improvement in heat dissipation for high heat flux areas is very limited. Without introducing external moving components to enhance heat dissipation, 3D VC efficiently transfers heat from the chip to the far end of the tooth through thermal diffusion in a three-dimensional structure. It has the advantages of efficient heat dissipation, uniform temperature distribution, and reduced hotspots, which can meet the bottleneck requirements of high-power device heat dissipation and uniform temperature distribution in high heat flux areas.
Although 3D VC has significant advantages over traditional cooling solutions, there is still room for further heat dissipation exploration. The future development trends of 3D VC technology include material improvement, structural innovation, manufacturing process optimization, and two-phase strengthening. DVC breaks through the thermal conductivity limitation of materials through phase change temperature equalization, greatly improving the temperature equalization effect, with flexible layout and diverse forms, which is the key technical direction for future 5G base stations to meet the requirements of high-density and lightweight design; 5G base station products have maintenance free requirements, which place extremely high demands on the reliability of 3D VC, posing significant challenges to the process implementation and control of 3D VC.
3D VC, as an innovative thermal management technology, has great application advantages in 5G base stations. It can match the "high-power, full bandwidth" development of 5G base stations and meet the "lightweight, high integration" needs of customers. It is of great importance and potential value for the development of 5G communication. The development and application of 3D VC are limited by process implementation and supply chain ecology, and require joint efforts from all parties in the relevant industry chain to promote further research and commercial application of 3D VC technology.
