Folded fin microchannel heat exchanger
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a thermal mass having a cavity formed within the mass;
inlet and outlet ports formed within the thermal mass and coupling the cavity with regions outside the thermal mass; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, said folded fin defining, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Folded fin microchannel heat exchangers for cooling integrated circuit (IC) dies and packages and cooling systems employing the same are disclosed. The heat exchangers include a folded fin enclosed within the heat exchanger thereby defining a plurality of microchannels. In one embodiment, a folded fin microchannel heat exchanger is operatively coupled to an IC die or IC package using fasteners and is thermally coupled to the IC die or an IC package using a thermal interface material. In other embodiments, a folded fin microchannel heat exchanger is operatively and thermally coupled to an IC die or an IC package using a thermal epoxy or a solderable material. The folded fin microchannel heat exchangers may be employed in a closed loop cooling system includes a pump and a heat rejecter. The folded fin microchannels are configured to support either a two-phase or a single-phase heat transfer process using a working fluid such as water.
65 Citations
56 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a thermal mass having a cavity formed within the mass;
inlet and outlet ports formed within the thermal mass and coupling the cavity with regions outside the thermal mass; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, said folded fin defining, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 52, 53, 54)
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5. An apparatus comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) die; and
a thermal mass coupled to the IC die, the thermal mass comprising;
a cavity; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, wherein the folded fin defines, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) package, said IC package containing one or more IC dies; and
a thermal mass coupled to the IC package, the thermal mass comprising;
a cavity; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, the folded fin defining, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system, comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) die;
a folded fin microchannel heat exchanger operatively and thermally coupled to the IC die, the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger comprising;
a thermal mass having a cavity;
a folded fin located within the cavity, the folded fin defining, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity; and
an inlet and an outlet, wherein the microchannels are fluidly coupled at one end to the inlet and at the other end to the outlet;
a pump, having an inlet and an outlet fluidly coupled to the inlet of the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger; and
a heat rejecter, having an inlet fluidly coupled to the outlet of the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger and an outlet fluidly coupled to the inlet of the pump, wherein the system employs a working fluid that transfers heat generated by the IC die to the heat rejecter using a two-phase heat exchange mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system, comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) package;
a folded fin microchannel heat exchanger operatively and thermally coupled to the IC package, the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger comprising;
a thermal mass having a cavity;
a folded fin located within the cavity, the folded fin defining, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity; and
an inlet and an outlet, wherein the microchannels are fluidly coupled at one end to the inlet and at the other end to the outlet;
a pump, having an inlet and an outlet fluidly coupled to the inlet of the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger; and
a heat rejecter, having an inlet fluidly coupled to the outlet of the folded fin microchannel heat exchanger and an outlet fluidly coupled to the inlet of the pump, wherein the system employs a working fluid that transfers heat generated by the IC die to the heat rejecter using a two-phase heat exchange mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) die;
a network interface;
an antenna coupled to the network interface;
a bus, said bus coupling the IC die to the network interface; and
a thermal mass coupled to the IC die, the thermal mass comprising;
a cavity; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, wherein the folded fin defines, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A system comprising:
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an integrated circuit (IC) package, said IC package containing one or more IC dies;
a network interface;
an antenna coupled to the network interface;
a bus, said bus coupling the IC package to the network interface; and
a thermal mass coupled to the IC package, the thermal mass comprising;
a cavity; and
a folded fin located within the cavity, wherein the folded fin defines, at least in part, a plurality of microchannels within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method;
- comprising;
thermally coupling at least one folded fin microchannel heat exchanger to at least one IC;
passing a working fluid through the at least one folded fin microchannel heat exchanger;
transferring heat produced by the at least one IC via that IC'"'"'s at least one folded fin microchannel heat exchanger to the working fluid to convert a portion of the working fluid passing through the folded fin microchannels in the at least one folded fin microchannel heat exchanger from a liquid to a vapor phase; and
passing the working fluid exiting the at least one folded fin microchannel heat exchanger through a heat rejecter, wherein the vapor phase portion of the working fluid is converted back to a liquid phase. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56)
- comprising;
Specification