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The thermal management of microelectronics is important because overheating can lead to various reliability issues. The most common thermal solution used in microelectronics is forced convection, which is usually initiated and sustained by an airflow generator, such as rotary fans. However, traditional rotary fans might not be appropriate for microelectronics due to the space limit. The form factor of an ionic wind pump can be small and, thus, could play a role in the thermal management of microelectronics. This paper presents how the performance of a needle-ring ionic wind pump responds to inlet blockage in different electrical driving modes (direct current), including the flow rate, the corona power, and the energy efficiency. The results show that the performance of small needle-ring ionic wind pumps is sensitive to neither the inlet blockage nor the electrical driving mode, making needle-ring ionic wind pumps a viable option for microelectronics. On the other hand, it is preferable to drive needle-ring ionic wind pumps by a constant current if consistent performance is desired.

For electronics, poor thermal management could cause severe mechanical and electrical failures. Forced convective air cooling, i.e., flowing air over a hot surface, is one of the most efficient and economical solutions to manage thermal issues of electronics. Air pump is used to initiate and sustain airflow required in forced convection. This paper reviews both the mechanical and the nonmechanical air pumps that have been using widely in current electronics or have a great potential in future electronics. The mechanical pumps include axial fans, blowers, beam fans, and diaphragm pumps, while the nonmechanical pump specifically focuses on electrohydrodynamic pumps. This paper presents the working principle first and then the recent developments, including the pump itself (design, characteristics, etc.) and the applications in thermal management (placement, integration, etc.). In the end, this paper conducts the strength analysis (flow rate, pressure, noise, flexibility, and reliability) among the reviewed five types of air pumps.

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