Innovation in cooling technology is the optimal solution for the high-performance development of electronic devices
As chips iterate towards high density, high integration, and high computing power, their power and power density are constantly soaring, and "high thermal density" has become a major bottleneck in the development of high-power semiconductor technology. Given the continuous increase in chip power consumption, liquid cooled cooling technology is receiving increasing attention. However, due to high costs and complex solutions, the current water-cooled panel technology is still some distance from the ideal heat dissipation solution in the industry.
In theory, the lower the temperature of a chip, the longer its lifespan, and the more stable its performance. But to achieve lower chip temperatures, the cooling cost that the industry needs to pay is too high, and the balance point of improving performance while also considering costs has not yet been reached. In this regard, the industry can adopt different technology combinations or collaborate to develop related products for various heat dissipation materials, technologies, and application scenarios, in order to explore optimal solutions under current cost acceptable conditions.
When the power consumption reaches tens or hundreds of watts, a heat pipe needs to be used to export heat from the chip. After the heat spreads to larger heat dissipation fins, a fan is used to blow it, which involves a combination of phase change heat absorption, heat conduction, and heat convection technology. So far, the vast majority of PCs and servers have adopted this combination of heat pipes, fins, and fans. However, as the power consumption of the CPU gradually reaches 300 watts, 500 watts, or even 800 watts At that time, the maximum heat dissipation capacity of the heat pipe and fan was broken. Due to the inability to adapt to industry development through the use of years of heat pipe and fan solutions, liquid cooling heat dissipation technologies such as water-cooled panels have to be adopted.
Due to the continuous increase in chip power consumption, emerging cooling technologies such as liquid cooling plate are receiving increasing attention. Compared to the wind convection of heat pipes with fins and fans, the liquid cold plate adopts a liquid convection method, which carries out heat exchange through liquid flow at a faster speed and with higher efficiency. However, due to the high cost and complex solutions, the liquid cooling technology has not yet achieved an order of magnitude growth. However, it has also become a must-have in some high-power application scenarios, as there is no more ideal solution in the industry.
From the heating chip to the device to the final product, there is a cooling demand at every level and link, which involves different support materials, interface materials, and underlying materials. At the same time, the application of different heat dissipation technologies or application scenarios results in different technical routes and solutions. And this is bound to have various potential development opportunities and different technological challenges.
The core elements of thermal cooling technology include the amount of heat generated by the chip itself, the intensity of heat flow per unit area, and the distance and volume at which heat can diffuse. Usually, heat dissipation is the process of diffusing the heat from a very high heat output or production hotspot to a larger space. This heat transfer process is serial, and any link in it may become a heat bottleneck. Heat dissipation is a step-by-step transmission system, such as from heat point A to B, C to D to E, and then to F. If the transfer efficiency between AB, BC, or CD is low, the final result may be that the cooling efficiency from A to F is not high enough. So each link needs to continuously improve its thermal ability to avoid becoming a bottleneck on the entire path. For ultra-high density chips and chip modules (MCMs), it is bound to develop the ultimate sustainable cooling technology solution.
