Silicon microchannel cooling for high power chips

In this work, single-phase Si microchannel coolers have been designed and characterized for cooling very high power density chips in single-chip modules (SCMs) in a laboratory environment. The average heat transfer coefficient was determined for a wide range of microchannel designs. Through the use of multiple heat exchanger zones and optimized cooler fin design, an average unit thermal resistance of 16.2 degrees C-mm(2)/W between the chip surface and the inlet cooling water was demonstrated for an Si microchannel cooler attached to a chip with Ag epoxy in an SCM. Very good uniformity from SCM to SCM (+/-2%) and within an SCM ( +/-5%) was achieved. Further, cooling of a thermal test chip with a microchannel cooler bonded to it and packaged in an SCM was also demonstrated for a chip power density greater than 400 W/cm(2). Coolers of this design should be able to cool chips with average power densities of 500 W/cm(2) or more.