Compact Water-Circulation System Prevents Stacks of Electronic Chips from Getting too Hot

Electronic components generate a great deal of heat that can detrimentally affect device performance, particularly state-of-the-art high-power computer processors. Now, stacks of integrated electrical circuits can be cooled by water using a system designed and built by a research team from the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics and Nanyang University in Singapore.

Integrated circuits combine passive electronic elements such as resistors and semiconductor devices on a single substrate. To achieve a higher density of components, engineers are developing methods for stacking these circuits. Keeping the tightly packed layers cool, however, is a challenge. In computers, for example, fans are used to circulate cooling air, but air is an inefficient conductor of heat. “The heat must be removed from microchips to maintain a temperature within acceptable limits: less than 100 °C,” explains team-member Navas Khan from the Institute of Microelectronics.

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