Silicon Interposer With Embedded Microfluidic Cooling For High-Performance Computing Systems

A silicon interposer platform utilizing microfluidic cooling is proposed to address the off-chip signaling and cooling challenges facing future high-performance computing systems. A test vehicle with microfluidic I/Os and a micropin-fin heat sink was used to evaluate microfluidic cooling performance. De-ionized water (similar to 20 degrees C) was used as the coolant. At a flow rate of 50 mL/min, the measured temperature was 55.9 degrees C for a power density of 97.0 W/cm(2). Compared to air cooling, microfluidic cooling significantly improves cooling performance and thermal isolation. Moreover, 3-D integration of two silicon dice with microfluidic I/Os on a silicon interposer is demonstrated.