Site-Specific and On-Demand High Heat-Flux Cooling Using Superlattice Based Thin-Film Thermoelectrics

Abstract

We have recently reported the first ever demonstration of active cooling of hot-spots of >1 kW/cm2 in a packaged electronic chip using thin-film superlattice thermoelectric cooler (TEC) cooling technology [1]. In this paper, we provide a detailed account of both experimental and theoretical aspects of this technological demonstration and progress. We have achieved cooling of as much as 15°C at a location on the chip where the heat-flux is as high as ∼1300 W/cm2, with the help of a thin-film TEC integrated into the package. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of high heat-flux cooling with a thin-film thermoelectric device made from superlattices when it is fully integrated into a usable electronic package. Our results, which validate the concept of site-specific micro-scale cooling of electronics in general, will have significant potential for thermal management of future generations of microprocessors. Similar active thermal management could also be relevant for high-performance solid-state lasers and power electronic chips.

Recent Advance in Thermoelectric Devices for Electronics Cooling

“…The electrical and thermal contact resistances of the solder interface between the IHS and the TEC were estimated to be about 10 -10 Ω-m 2 and 8 × 10 -6 m 2 -K/W. 10 The simulation results shown in Figure 5(a) indicate that, in the absence of parasitic effects of electrical contact resistance and thermal contact resistance, the TFTEC is able to reduce the hot spot temperature approximately by 23.0°C at an applied current of 3.0A and 30.0°C at an applied current of 6.0A. However, with an electrical contact resistance of 1 × 10 -10 Ω-m 2 , the hot spot cooling is reduced to 22.0°C at an applied current of 3.0A; if there is a thermal contact resistance of 8 × 10 -6 m 2 -K/W, the hot spot cooling is reduced to 17.0°C at an applied current of 3.0A.…”

Improvement of Thermal Environment by Thermoelectric Coolers and Numerical Optimization of Thermal Performance

“…If the polarity of power supply is reversed, heat-pumping direction will be changed subsequently. Moreover, due to higher thermal conductance compared with the material surrounding it, a TEC still has the ability of cooling even when there is no electrical current across it [11]. In addition, the localized cooling can be achieved using microelectronic processing for the hot spot of interest [29].…”

“…In addition to the good cooling ability, compact size, reduced thermal resistance, silent operation, and high reliability make TECs widely used in electronic, optoelectronic, and bioanalytical devices [8]- [10]. With a thin-film TEC integrated into the package, Chowdhury et al [10], [11] achieved temperature drop of 15 °C at a location where the heat flux reaches up to 1300 W/cm 2 . Murphy et al [12] explored semiconductor optical amplifiers packaged with a TEC in avionic applications, and the results indicated TEC were a favorable option for single isolated transmitters.…”

Hybrid Solid- and Liquid-Cooling Solution for Isothermalization of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor Power Electronic Devices

“…These solid-state cooling devices have compact structure, offer high reliability, can be locally applied, provide high cooling flux, and can be integrated with IC processing. Although thin-film TE cooling technology has been successfully demonstrated for thermal management of 1250 W/cm 2 400 × 400 μm hot spot for silicon microprocessor [23], [24], there is no attempt on application of thin-film TEC for cooling high-flux IGBT chip. In this paper, we propose a hybrid solid-/liquidcooling solution, which combines cold plate liquid cooling and TE solid-state cooling, for thermal management of a 10 × 10 mm IGBT chip at a heat flux of 100-200 W/cm 2 .…”