Thermal management of chips by a device prototype using synergistic effects of 3-D heat-conductive network and electrocaloric refrigeration

Abstract

With speeding up development of 5 G chips, high-efficient thermal structure and precise management of tremendous heat becomes a substantial challenge to the power-hungry electronics. Here, we demonstrate an interpenetrating architecture of electrocaloric polymer with highly thermally conductive pathways that achieves a 240% increase in the electrocaloric performance and a 300% enhancement in the thermal conductivity of the polymer. A scaled-up version of the device prototype for a single heat spot cooling of 5 G chip is fabricated utilizing this electrocaloric composite and electromagnetic actuation. The continuous three-dimensional (3-D) thermal conductive network embedded in the polymer acts as nucleation sites of the ordered dipoles under applied electric field, efficiently collects thermal energy at the hot-spots arising from field-driven dipolar entropy change, and opens up the high-speed conduction path of phonons. The synergy of two components, thus, tackles the challenge of sluggish heat dissipation of the electroactive polymers and their contact interfaces with low thermal conductivity, and more importantly, significantly reduces the electric energy for switching the dipolar states during the electrocaloric cycles, and increases the manipulable entropy at the low fields. Such a feasible solution is inevitable to the precisely fixed-point thermal management of next-generation smart microelectronic devices.

Joint‐Inspired Liquid and Thermal Conductive Interface for Designing Thermal Interface Materials with High Solid Filling yet Excellent Thixotropy

“…Much attention has been paid to increasing the intrinsic thermal conductivity of TIMs in recent years. [6][7][8][9] For example, effective enhancement in out-of-plane thermal conductivity was observed through elaborate methods, including filler networking strategy, [10,11] vertical orientation of low-dimensional filler, [12][13][14] using hybrid fillers, [15,16] and filler surface modification. [4] However, only a few studies paid attention to the R c that is primarily dependent on TIMs' thixotropy (e.g., liquidity, viscoelasticity, and compressibility).…”

Anhydrous Thermogalvanic Gel for Simultaneous Waste Heat Recovery and Thermal Management of Electronics

“…With the rapid development of microelectronics, the pressures to minimize the size and increase the switching frequency of electronic components result in massive power dissipation density. − However, the majority of thermal energy dissipation is typically wasted by emitting directly into the air without reutilization . Heat accumulation would also result in degraded operation performance, a shorter life span, and safety issues. , Hence, we have developed a thirst for high-efficiency thermal management systems due to thermal energy having the potential to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependency on conventional fossil fuels if it can be effectively harvested as an appealing energy source. − …”

Substantially Enhanced Electrocaloric Effect in Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 Lead-Free Ferroelectric Ceramics via Lattice Stress Engineering

“…Electrocaloric effect (ECE), i.e., the adiabatic temperature change and isothermal entropy change arising from dipole orientation and phase transition induced by electric fields (Δ E ), has attracted a great deal of attention. , Cooling devices based on ECE are highly efficient solid-state cooling technology with the advantages of compact device configurations, lightweight, and environment-friendly. − In recent years, a high ECE has been explored in dielectric thin films, − bulk ceramics, − and polymers. − In particular, bulk ceramics hold significant potential for practical cooling applications owing to their high EC strength (Δ T /Δ E ), simple preparation process, and low cost. However, the working electric field of bulk ceramics is still inferior to those of polymers and thin films, which means that the ECE strength in bulk ceramics needs to be further enhanced to guarantee enough Δ T for the practical use of cooling devices.…”