The technique, developed by a team of scientists at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in cooperation with Momentive Performance Materials, formerly GE Advanced Materials, overcomes a barrier in chip cooling by improving the application of the "glue" that binds chips to their cooling systems. The new technology could allow faster computer chips to be cooled more efficiently.
In today's computer chips, as the circuits on chips become increasingly smaller, chips generate more heat than ever before. To remove the heat from the chip, a cooling system is attached to the microprocessor using a special adhesive or glue. This glue is necessary to bind the two systems together, yet it poses a real barrier in heat transport.
To improve the glue's heat-conducting properties, it is enriched with micrometer-sized metal or ceramic particles. These particles form clusters that build "heat-evacuation bridges" from the chip to the cooler to compensate for the glue's shortcomings. However, even highly particle-filled pastes are still inefficient, consuming up to 40 percent of the overall thermal budget, i.e. the cooling capacity available to draw heat away from the chip.
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In today's computer chips, as the circuits on chips become increasingly smaller, chips generate more heat than ever before. To remove the heat from the chip, a cooling system is attached to the microprocessor using a special adhesive or glue. This glue is necessary to bind the two systems together, yet it poses a real barrier in heat transport.
To improve the glue's heat-conducting properties, it is enriched with micrometer-sized metal or ceramic particles. These particles form clusters that build "heat-evacuation bridges" from the chip to the cooler to compensate for the glue's shortcomings. However, even highly particle-filled pastes are still inefficient, consuming up to 40 percent of the overall thermal budget, i.e. the cooling capacity available to draw heat away from the chip.
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