June 18, 2012 -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA’s) Intrachip/Interchip Enhanced Cooling (ICECool) program is tasked with bringing “embedded” thermal management to advanced and high-power semiconductor packages, reducing the size and weight of military electronics systems.
The DARPA Thermal Management Technologies (TMT) program’s ICECool will bring microfluidic cooling inside the substrate, chip, or package by including thermal management in the earliest stages of electronics design. The aim is to maintain the density and miniaturization of advanced packages, and improve performance and reliability, while shifting thermal management from remote to integrated design.
ICECool is looking for thermal management technologies analogous to a car’s cooling system, where cooling fluid is pumped through the engine to absorb heat, said Avram Bar-Cohen, DARPA program manager. Current thermal management methods use heatsinks, thermal materials and other methods to draw heat away from the outside of the chip and package.
Also read: IBM to use water cooling for future 3D IC processors
Microfluidics cooling is based on microchannels designed and built directly into chips, substrates and/or packages. DARPA is also seeking research into the thermal and fluid flow characteristics of such systems at small and large scales, Bar-Cohen said.
Submit proposals to research and demonstrate the microfabrication and evaporative cooling techniques needed to implement embedded cooling here: http://bit.ly/Ls2odr. Proposals are sought for intrachip/interchip solutions that bring microchannels, micropores, etc. into the design and fabrication of chips. Interchip solutions for chip stacks are also sought.
DARPA’s mission is to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military and prevent technological surprise from harming our national security by sponsoring revolutionary, high-payoff research bridging the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use. Learn more at http://www.darpa.mil.
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