Cooling of Miniature Electronic Systems Using Diamond Circuit Boards

N. V. Apollo*, A. Ahnood, H. Zhan, K. Ganesan, A. J.R. Smith, S. Prawer, D. J. Garrett

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The drive for miniaturization of electronic systems has led to increases in spatial power density of electronic devices, making thermal management a critical challenge. For applications which require placing electronic components into increasingly smaller areas, such as 3D IC system-in-package architectures, greater thermal loads increase the probability of device failure. In this work, we present a circuit board consisting of polycrystalline diamond which has excellent thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. Moreover, water cooling channels are integrated into the circuit board to achieve rapid and spatially-uniform cooling compared with an alumina ceramic circuit board. The total diamond package size was 1 cm × 1 cm × 1.6 cm excluding cooling channels. It was heated with a power density of 1.1 W cm-2 and cooled with a liquid flow rate of 64.5 ml s-1. Computational fluid dynamics modelling was performed to investigate the impact of substrate material and geometry on heat spreading, hot-spot generation, and water cooling efficacy during electrical powering. High thermal conductivity substrates, such as diamond, enabled a more uniform heat distribution paving the way for achieving highly miniaturized systems with lesser constraints on the hot spot formation. Furthermore, enhanced thermal conductivity lessens a key requirement for the cooling mechanism to be placed at a close proximity to the thermal load. As a result, more compact electronics packages, including 3D architectures, are possible.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 17th InterSociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, ITherm 2018
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages340-344
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781538612729
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jul 2018
Externally publishedYes
Event17th InterSociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, ITherm 2018 - San Diego, United States
Duration: 29 May 20181 Jun 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 17th InterSociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, ITherm 2018

Conference

Conference17th InterSociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, ITherm 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period29/05/181/06/18

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