Integrated power and cooling architecture

• US 7,002,800 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2002
• Issued: 02/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Cepas, Bruce M., Elias, J. Michael, Korn, James A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Datskovskiy, Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/107,177
• Publication Number:
  US 20030143958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• Field of Search: 361/688, 361/690, 361600-605, 361702-712, 361/715, 361/717, 361718-724, 361/816, 361/818, 257706-727, 165/80.2, 165/80.3, 165/10, 165/45, 165/168, 165/104.32, 165/104.33, 174/151.1, 174/15.2, 174/16.3, 343/700, 343/853
• US Class Current: 361/700
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/3733 having a heterogeneous or anisotropic structure, e.g. powder or fibres in a matrix, wire mesh, porous structures H01L23/3732, H01L23/3737 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/427 Cooling by change of state, e.g. use of heat pipes by liquefied gas H01L23/445
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3011 Impedance
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 10/00 Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting Seebeck or Peltier effects integrated devices or assemblies of multiple devices H10N19/00

Abstract

An integrated thermal apparatus for improved electronic device performance has an energy storage device coupled with a thermoelectric management device for managing thermal energy generated by the electronic device. The thermoelectric management device can include a semiconductor thermoelectric device and phase change material, which can be integrated into a foam aluminum structure. The energy storage device can be a nanometallic device. The electrical load electrical efficiency is improved by co-locating it with thermoelectric management device directly on a composite substrate foundation to provide enhanced waste heat conversion to electrical energy. The apparatus manages the thermal and power issues at the substrate level in close proximity to the electrical load and incorporates the needed thermal mass into the support structure by way of a phase change material.

Claims

1. An integrated power and cooling apparatus for electronics, comprising:

a substrate having an electrical conductor;

an energy storage device mounted on the substrate;

an electrical load mounted on the substrate in electrical communication with the energy storage device; and

a thermal management structure abutting the substrate and in thermal communication with at least a portion of a heat producing section of the electrical load, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a structural support and a phase change material integrated into a void space of the structural support,

wherein the structural support is a foam aluminum.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a thermoelectric device in electrical communication with the electrical load and in thermal communication with both the portion of the heat producing section of the electrical load and the phase change material.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a composite-based or a metallic-based substrate.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises graphite or silicon-carbide-aluminum.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrical conductor is on at least one side of the substrate.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the energy storage device has at least one electrode made from titanium or a titanium-based alloy.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the energy storage device is a titanium or titanium-based capacitor.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the energy storage device is in electrical communication with the electrical load via the electrical conductor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrical load is a component in an antenna or radar system.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the component is one or more of a monolithic millimeterwave integrated circuit and a radio frequency transmit/receive element.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the phase change material is a solid phase change material.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a substrate with an electrical conductor on at least one side thereof;

an electrical load mounted on the substrate in electrical communication with the electrical conductor; and

a thermal management structure abutting the substrate and in thermal communication with at least a portion of a heat producing section of the electrical load, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a structural support, a phase change material integrated into a void space of the structural support, and a thermoelectric device in electrical communication with the electrical conductor and in thermal communication with both the heat producing portion of the electrical load and the phase change material.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the substrate is a composite-based or a metallic-based substrate.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the substrate comprises graphite or silicon-carbide-aluminum.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the electrical load is a component in an antenna or radar system.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the component is one or more of a monolithic millimeterwave integrated circuit and a radio frequency transmit/receive element.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the structural support is a foam aluminum.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the phase change material is a solid phase change material.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, comprising an energy storage device mounted on the substrate in electrical communication with the electrical load.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the energy storage device has at least one electrode made from titanium or a titanium-based alloy.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the energy storage device is a titanium or titanium-based capacitor.

22. A transmit/receive apparatus comprising:

a substrate with an electrical interconnect circuit on at least one side thereof;

a plurality of electronic components defining an electronics submodule, the electronics submodule disposed on the substrate in electrical communication with the electrical interconnect circuit;

a radiating element proximate an outer surface of the transmit/receive apparatus and in electrical communication with the electronics submodule;

an energy storage device mounted on the substrate in electrical communication with the electrical interconnect circuit; and

a thermal management structure abutting the substrate and in thermal communication with at least a portion of the heat producing section of the electronics submodule, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a structural support and a phase change material integrated into a void space of the structural support.

23. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the plurality of electronic components comprises at least one of a monolithic millimeterwave integrated circuit, a radio frequency transmit/receive element, a regulator, and a control circuit.

24. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the radiating element comprises one or more cross-slot elements.

25. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the radiating element is an array of cross slot radio frequency transmit/receive elements, each cross slot radio frequency transmit/receive element disposed in a first surface thereof and separated from another cross slot radio frequency transmit/receive element to obtain a desired frequency of a radiated energy.

26. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 25, wherein the array is a two-by-eight arrangement of cross-slot radio frequency elements.

27. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 25, wherein each element separated from another element is separated by a distance corresponding to one-half the wavelength of the desired frequency.

28. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 25, wherein the desired frequency is approximately 34–

36 GHz.

29. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the electronics submodule is mounted on the substrate or is integrated into the substrate.

30. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, comprising an outer shell disposed as the outermost layer about at least a portion of the outer surface.

31. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 30, wherein the outer shell is formed of a stamped aluminum.

32. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 30, wherein the outer shell provides a Faraday shield for the transmit/receive apparatus.

33. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a thermoelectric device in electrical communication with the electrical interconnect circuit and in thermal communication with the portion of the heat producing section of the electronics submodule and at least a portion of the phase change material.

34. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 33, wherein the thermoelectric device is disposed as a thin film on an opposite side of the substrate from the electronics submodule and is electrically connected to the energy storage device.

35. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the substrate is a composite-based or metallic-based substrate.

36. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 35, wherein the composite-based substrate is graphite.

37. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 35, wherein the metallic-based substrate is silicon-carbide-aluminum.

38. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the structural support is a foam aluminum.

39. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the phase change material is a solid phase change material.

40. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the energy storage device has at least one electrode made from titanium or a titanium-based alloy.

41. The transmit/receive apparatus of claim 22, wherein the energy storage device is a titanium or titanium-based capacitor.

42. An apparatus positioned in a space of an airborne vehicle for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic radiation, the apparatus comprising:

a unit within a faradaic shield comprising a plurality of electronic elements, at least one energy storage device, at least one substrate, and at least one thermal management structure; and

at least one radiating element having a first surface that is conformal to an outer surface of the airborne vehicle and a second surface that is in electrical communication with the unit,

wherein each of the electronic elements, the energy storage device, the substrate, and the thermal management structure are arranged in a planar-stacked arrangement, the electronic elements and the energy storage device being electrically interconnected to produce a desired wavelength of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the radiating element, and wherein the electronic elements, the energy storage device, the substrate, and the thermal management structure are in thermal contact to maintain a temperature of at least the electronic components below a predetermined temperature.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a phase change material integrated into a void space of a support structure for the unit, the phase change material selected to have a phase change at or below the predetermined temperature.

44. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the thermal management structure comprises a thermoelectric device arranged between the electronic components and the phase change material.

45. A method to manage thermal energy generated by an electronic device, the method comprising the steps of:

developing a thermal gradient across a thermal management structure comprising a phase change material;

supplying an electrical energy to the electronic device, which generates thermal energy;

dissipating a first portion of the thermal energy generated by the electronic device using the phase change material,

absorbing at least a second portion of the thermal energy generated by the electronic device using a thermoelectric device positioned between the electronic device and the phase change material;

converting thermal energy absorbed by the thermoelectric device into electrical energy; and

supplying the converted electrical energy to the electronic device.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the first portion of the thermal energy from the step of dissipating produces a phase change in the phase change material.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the first portion of a balance of the thermal energy from the step of dissipating produces a phase change in the phase change material.