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ABSTRACT: Heat dissipation is one of the factors limiting the continuous miniaturization of electronics. In the study presented in this paper, we designed an ultra-thin heat sink using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as micro cooling fins attached directly onto a chip. A metal-enhanced CNT transfer technique was utilized to improve the interface between the CNTs and the chip surface by minimizing the thermal contact resistance and promoting the mechanical strength of the microfins. In order to optimize the geometrical design of the CNT microfin structure, multi-scale modeling was performed. A molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) was carried out to investigate the interaction between water and CNTs at the nanoscale and a finite element method (FEM) modeling was executed to analyze the fluid field and temperature distribution at the macroscale. Experimental results show that water is much more efficient than air as a cooling medium due to its three orders-of-magnitude higher heat capacity. For a hotspot with a high power density of 5000 W cm(-2), the CNT microfins can cool down its temperature by more than 40 °C. The large heat dissipation capacity could make this cooling solution meet the thermal management requirement of the hottest electronic systems up to date.
Nanotechnology 02/2012; 23(4):045304. · 3.98 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Micro-channels are generally regarded as an effective method for the heat transfer in electronic products, and much effort has been put into improving their capacities. At the same time, carbon nanotubes have shown great potential in the field of heat transfer. This paper focuses on the microchannel heat sinks combined with carbon nanotubes. A series of 3D models had been created, and the heat transfer characteristics were studied. Two kinds of numerical model were carried out by using Fluent. One model contained the whole micro-channel cooler structure, and the other was a simplified model with only one channel taken into simulation. A comparison of results by the two models indicates a 19.5% variation in the maximum temperature on the fins. Furthermore, five micro-channel cooler structures were constructed with different fin widths. The simulation results showed that with the decrease in the fin width, heat transfer ability was improved. This is attributed to the anisotropic thermal conductivity of the fin arrays.
Electronic Packaging Technology & High Density Packaging, 2009. ICEPT-HDP '09. International Conference on; 09/2009
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ABSTRACT: Compared to conventional metal heat sinks, CNT-based microfins have exceptional advantage to drag heat out from electronic components due to the unique thermal and mechanical properties of the material. This paper will review the state of CNTs applied as cooling fins in microelectronic systems. The latest progresses will be presented.
Nanotechnology, 2009. IEEE-NANO 2009. 9th IEEE Conference on; 08/2009
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ABSTRACT: The present work aims to study the heat dissipation capability of microchannel coolers with the coolant made of carbon NanoTube (CNT) suspension, which has been reported to have unusually good thermal properties. In this study, silicon microchannel coolers were prepared by the technique of deep ion reactive etching (DIRE). Stable and homogeneous CNT suspension was also produced. Meanwhile, a closed-loop cooling test system was developed to investigate the heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler with different coolants. The experimental setup included a test module, a minipump for providing controllable flow, and a fan system for cooling the circular fluid. Beside the inlet and outlet of the test module, two thermocouples and pressure gauges were set up to measure the temperature and pressure of the fluids. The measurement results of the heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler using CNT suspension and pure water as coolant were obtained. The results show that the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension as coolant could strengthen the heat removal capability of microchannel cooler. In addition to heat transfer enhancement, the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension coolant did not produce extra pressure drop.
Electronics System-Integration Technology Conference, 2008. ESTC 2008. 2nd; 10/2008
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ABSTRACT: In this work, silicon microchannel coolers were made using the deep ion reactive etching (DIRE) technique. Stable and homogeneous carbon nanotube (CNT) suspension was also prepared. Meanwhile, a closed-loop cooling test system was developed to investigate the heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler with different coolants. The experimental setup included a test module, a minipump for providing controllable flow, and a fan system for cooling the circular fluid. Beside the inlet and outlet of the test module, two thermocouples and pressure gauges were set up to measure the temperature and pressure of the fluids. The heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler using different CNT volume fraction of suspension coolant was studied. The results show that the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension as coolant could strengthen the heat removal capability of microchannel cooler. In addition to heat transfer enhancement, the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension coolant did not produce extra pressure drop in the present study.
Electronic Packaging Technology & High Density Packaging, 2008. ICEPT-HDP 2008. International Conference on; 08/2008
