[cdg] Computer News - 'Nano-lightning' could cool computer chips
- From: "Donny Duncan" <ravers_deelite@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cdg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2004 20:04:38 -0500
Pulled from NewScientist (www.newscientist.com)
'Nano-lightning' could cool computer chips
Jumping electric charges could waft breezes of ionised air through microchips,
replacing the bulky, noisy fans that cool down today's computers.
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana say their
patent-pending technology could be built directly into a computer chip's heat
sink to provide a faster, quieter and lighter cooling system than the
alternatives.
In current designs, a metallic sink absorbs the heat generated by currents in
the microchip and is cooled by mechanical fans. But as engineers squeeze more
functionality out of smaller chips, they are finding that the fans cannot cool
down the chips fast enough or are too big for the device. "Heat is now a major
factor limiting the size of laptops," says Dan Schlitz of Purdue University.
So researchers have come up with a range of alternatives including
piezo-electric fans and tiny, cold-water pumps. But there is always a
trade-off: air is preferable to water, because it is does not need to be
encased, but water is attractive because it absorbs and releases heat more
quickly.
The Purdue technology is the first air-based system to produce a cooling rate
similar to water - 40 watts per square centimetre. "That is why we are
excited," says Suresh Garimella, who led the research and is engaged in seven
other chip-cooling projects.
Read more here:
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/article.jsp?id=99994816&sub=Nanotechnology
Donny Duncan
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