Patent Grant
10670352
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
This invention relates to cooling of semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to cooling systems to cool semiconductor and other devices.
Electronics employing various semiconductor devices and integrated circuits are commonly subjected to various environmental stresses. Applications of such electronics are extremely widespread, and utilize different semiconductor materials.
Many electronic environments, such as mobile devices or laptop computers have thin/planar configurations, where many components are efficiently packed into a very confined space. As a result, cooling solutions must also conform to thin/planar configurations. Heat spreaders in the form of thin thermal ground planes (TGPs) may be desirable for many electronic cooling applications.
The present application discloses two-phase cooling devices. Two-phase cooling devices are a class of devices that can transfer heat with very high efficiency, and may include: heat pipes, thermal ground planes, vapor chambers and thermosiphons, and the like.
In some embodiments, the present application provides two-phase cooling devices including at least three substrates. In some embodiments, one or more of the substrates is formed from microfabricated metal, such as but not limited to titanium, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel. In some embodiments the substrate may be formed as a thermal ground plane structure suitable for use in electronic devices. In some embodiments, the two-phase device may comprise a predetermined amount of at least one suitable working fluid, where the working fluid adsorbs or rejects heat by changing phases between liquid and vapor.
In some embodiments, the present application may provide two-phase cooling devices including a metal, such as but not limited to titanium, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel, substrate comprising a plurality of etched microstructures, forming a wicking structure wherein one or more of the microstructures have a height of between about 1-1000 micrometers, a width of between about 1-1000 micrometers, and a spacing of between about 1-1000 micrometers. In some embodiments a vapor cavity may be in communication with the plurality of metal microstructures. In some embodiments at least one intermediate substrate may be in communication with the wicking structure and the vapor region. In some embodiments, a fluid may be contained within the wicking structure and vapor cavity for transporting thermal energy from one region of the thermal ground plane to another region of the thermal ground plane, wherein the fluid may be driven by capillary forces within the wicking structure.
In some embodiments the cooling device can be configured for high capillary force in the wicking structure, to support large pressure differences between the liquid and vapor phases, while minimizing viscous losses of the liquid flowing in the wicking structure. In some embodiments, the cooling device may be a thermal ground plane which can be made very thin, and could possibly transfer more thermal energy than can be achieved by earlier TGP's. In some embodiments, different structural components could be located in an evaporator region, an adiabatic region and a condenser region. In some embodiments, an evaporator region may contain an intermediate substrate that comprises a plurality of microstructures that when mated with the wicking structure form high aspect ratio structures. In some embodiments, the intermediate substrate features are interleaved with the wicking structure features to increase the effective aspect ratio of the wicking structure. In some embodiments, an adiabatic region may contain an intermediate substrate positioned in close proximity to the wicking structure to separate the vapor in the vapor chamber from the liquid in the wicking structure. In some embodiments, a condenser region may contain an intermediate substrate that has large openings (compared to the microstructure) so that the wicking structure is in direct communication with the vapor chamber. In some embodiments, a condenser region might not contain an intermediate substrate so that the wicking structure is in direct communication with the vapor chamber.
Portable devices have stringent requirements on size, power consumption and battery lifetime. These performance attributes are often interrelated, such that a smaller, lighter enclosure may get hotter which may degrade battery performance. Accordingly, the titanium thermal ground plane may be adapted for use in portable devices, wherein its improved thermal performance, small size, and mechanical strength are significant advantages over other heat pipe technologies.
Various exemplary details are described with reference to the following figures, wherein:
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, and that like numbers may refer to like features.
The first portion of this description is directed to the details of the novel titanium thermal ground plane. The later portion describes its application to portable devices.
In the following description of the preferred embodiment, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following reference numbers are used to refer to the following features:
In some embodiments, the thermal ground planes disclosed here could be used to provide efficient space utilization for cooling semiconductor devices in a large range of applications, including but not limited to aircraft, satellites, laptop computers, desktop computers, mobile devices, automobiles, motor vehicles, heating air conditioning and ventilation systems, and data centers.
Microfabricated substrates can be used to make more robust, shock resistant two-phase cooling devices, which may be in the form of Thermal Ground Planes (TGPs). Although a variety of materials for these substrates may be employed, as described in the incorporated references, metal, such as but not limited to titanium, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel substrates have been found suitable for TGPs.
The choice of metal can depend upon the various applications and cost considerations. There are advantages to various metals. For example, copper offers the highest thermal conductivity of all the metals. Aluminum can be advantageous for applications where high thermal conductivity is important and weight might be important. Stainless steel could have advantageous in certain harsh environments.
Titanium has many advantages. For example, titanium has a high fracture toughness, can be microfabricated and micromachined, can resist high temperatures, can resist harsh environments, can be bio-compatible. In addition, titanium-based thermal ground planes can be made light weight, relatively thin, and have high heat transfer performance. Titanium can be pulse laser welded. Since titanium has a high fracture toughness, it can be formed into thin substrates that resist crack and defect propagation. Titanium has a relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion of approximately 8.6×10−6/K. The low coefficient of thermal expansion, coupled with thin substrates can help to substantially reduce stresses due to thermal mismatch. Titanium can be oxidized to form Nano Structured Titania (NST), which forms stable and super hydrophilic surfaces. In some embodiments, titanium (Ti) substrates with integrated Nano Structured Titania (NST) have been found suitable for TGP's.
Metals, such as but not limited to titanium, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel, can be microfabricated with controlled characteristic dimensions (depth, width, and spacing) ranging from about 1-1000 micrometers, to engineer the wicking structure and intermediate substrate for optimal performance and customized for specific applications. In some embodiments, the controlled characteristic dimensions (depth, width, and spacing) could range from 10-500 micrometers, to engineer the wicking structure for optimal performance and customized for specific applications.
In some embodiments, titanium can be oxidized to form nanostructured titania (NST), which could provide super hydrophilic surfaces and thereby increase capillary forces, and enhance heat transfer. In some embodiments, the NST can be comprised of hair-like patterns with a nominal roughness of 200 nanometers (nm). In some embodiments, NST can have a nominal roughness of 1-1000 nm.
In some embodiments aluminum can be oxidized to form hydrophilic nanostructures, to provide super hydrophilic coatings. In some embodiments, sintered nanoparticles and/or microparticles could be used to provide super hydrophilic surfaces and thereby increase capillary forces, and enhance heat transfer.
In some embodiments, titanium can be coated on another type of substrate forming a titanium film. The titanium film can be oxidized to form nano-structured titania (NST), and thereby provide super hydrophilic surfaces.
Titanium is a material that can be microfabricated using cleanroom processing techniques, macro-machined in a machine shop, and hermetically packaged using a pulsed laser micro welding technique. When the thermal ground plane is comprised of only titanium or titania as the structural material, the various components can be laser welded in place, without introducing contaminants, which could possibly produce non-condensable gasses, contribute to poor performance, and possibly lead to failure. In addition, titanium and titania have been shown to be compatible with water, which can contribute to long lifetimes and minimal non-condensable gas generation. Accordingly, the titanium substrate may be connected to the titanium backplane 120 by a laser weld, to form a hermetically-sealed vapor cavity.
Metals can be bonded to form hermetic seals. In some embodiments, titanium substrates can be pulsed laser micro-welded together to form a hermetic seal. In other embodiments, copper, aluminum, and stainless steel substrates could be welded using a variety of techniques, such as but not limited to, soldering, brazing, vacuum brazing, TIG, MIG, and many other well-known welding techniques.
The present application describes the fabrication of metal-based Thermal Ground Planes (TGPs). Without loss of generality, the present application discloses thermal ground plane embodiments that could be comprised of three or more metal substrates.
An embodiment can comprise three substrates (of which one or more can be constructed using a metal, such as but not limited to titanium, aluminum, copper, or stainless steel) to form a thermal ground plane. In some embodiments, titanium substrates could be used to form a thermal ground plane. In some embodiments, one substrate supports an integrated super-hydrophilic wicking structure 210, a second substrate consists of a deep-etched (or macro-machined) vapor cavity, and a third intermediate substrate 110 may consist of microstructures 112 and are in communication with the wicking structure 210 and the vapor chamber 300. The substrates could be laser micro welded together to form the thermal ground plane.
The working fluid can be chosen based upon desired performance characteristics, operating temperature, material compatibility, or other desirable features. In some embodiments, and without loss of generality, water could be used as the working fluid. In some embodiments, and without loss of generality, helium, nitrogen, ammonia, high-temperature organics, mercury, acetone, methanol, Flutec PP2, ethanol, heptane, Flutec PP9, pentane, caesium, potassium, sodium, lithium, or other materials, could be used as the working fluid.
The current TGP can provide significant improvement over earlier titanium-based thermal ground planes. For example, the present invention could provide significantly higher heat transfer, thinner thermal ground planes, thermal ground planes that are less susceptible to the effects of gravity, and many other advantages.
The following co-pending and commonly-assigned U.S. patent applications are related to the instant application, and are incorporated by reference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 7,718,552 B2, issued May 18, 2010, by Samah, et al, entitled “NANOSTRUCTURED TITANIA,” which application is incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/082,437, filed on Jul. 21, 2008, by Noel C. MacDonald et al., entitled “TITANIUM-BASED THERMAL GROUND PLANE,” which application is incorporated by reference herein. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/685,579, filed on Nov. 26, 2012, by Payam Bozorgi et al., entitled “TITANIUM-BASED THERMAL GROUND PLANE,” which application is incorporated by reference herein. PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/023303, filed on Jan. 31, 2012, by Payam Bozorgi and Noel C. MacDonald, entitled “USING MILLISECOND PULSED LASER WELDING IN MEMS PACKAGING,” which application is incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Patent Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/017,455, filed on Jun. 26, 2014, by Payam Bozorgi and Carl Meinhart, entitled “TWO-PHASE COOLING DEVICES WITH LOW-PROFILE CHARGING PORTS,” which application is incorporated by reference herein.
As described in the incorporated references, the wicking structure can be formed from a plurality of pillars, channels, grooves, trenches, or other geometric structures. For example,
In some embodiments, a plurality of intermediate substrates 110 could be used, where at least one different intermediate substrate 110 could be used for each different region of the thermal ground plane. The plurality of intermediate substrates 110 could be positioned in close proximity to each other to collectively provide overall benefit to the functionality of the thermal ground plane.
In some embodiments, the intermediate substrate 110 could contain regions that are comprised of a plurality of microstructures 112, with characteristic dimensions (depth, width, and spacing) ranging from 1-1000 micrometers. In some embodiments, the intermediate substrate 110 could contain regions that are comprised of a plurality of microstructures 112, with dimensions (depth, width, and spacing) ranging from 10-500 micrometers.
The at least one intermediate substrate 110 may contain regions that are comprised of a plurality of microstructures 112, regions that are comprised of solid substrates, and regions that are comprised of at least one opening in the at least one intermediate substrate 110 (that is large compared to the microstructures 112, and for example openings could range in dimension of 1 millimeter-100 millimeters, or 1 millimeter-1000 millimeters.
In some embodiments, the opening in the intermediate substrate 110 for chosen regions of the thermal ground plane could be achieved by simply not providing an intermediate substrate 110 in those regions. Thermal energy can be supplied by a heat source 250 and removed by a heat sink 260. Thermal energy can be transferred from one region (evaporator region) of the metal substrate 212 to another region (condenser region) of the metal substrate 212. In the evaporator region, the local temperature is higher than the saturation temperature of the liquid/vapor mixture, causing the liquid 140 to evaporate into vapor, thereby absorbing thermal energy due to the latent heat of vaporization.
The vapor residing in the vapor chamber 300 can flow from the evaporator region through the adiabatic region to the condenser region. The heat sink 260 could absorb heat from the condenser region causing the local temperature to be lower than the saturation temperature of the liquid/vapor mixture, causing the vapor to condense into the liquid phase, and thereby releasing thermal energy due to the latent heat of vaporization.
The condensed liquid 140 could predominantly reside in the wicking structure 210 and could flow from the condenser region through the adiabatic region to the evaporator region as a result of capillary forces.
As a result it could be advantageous for high-performance heat pipes to: (1) exhibit minimal viscous losses for the liquid 140 flowing through the wicking structure 210, and to (2) exhibit maximal capillary forces in the evaporator region. In many practical thermal ground plane embodiments, minimal viscous losses and maximal capillary forces are difficult to achieve simultaneously. Introducing an intermediate substrate 110 with a plurality of microstructures 112, configured as appropriate in each of the three regions could provide a means in which the thermal ground plane could have reduced viscous losses in some regions, while exhibiting increased capillary forces in other regions, compared to earlier TGP's with more or less the same structure over a majority of the interior.
In some embodiments, supporting pillars (standoffs) 122 are used to mechanically support the spacing between the backplane 120 and the wicking structure 210 and/or intermediate substrate 110. In some embodiments, the supporting pillars (standoffs) provide controlled spacing for the vapor chamber 300. The supporting pillars (standoffs) could be microfabricated using chemical wet etching techniques or other fabrication techniques (as described above). Accordingly, the backplane 120 may include standoffs that are in communication with the intermediate substrate and/or the metal substrate, for structurally supporting the thermal ground plane.
Accordingly, the thermal ground plane may have an evaporator region, an adiabatic region, and a condenser region. The intermediate substrate, in turn, may have a different topography in the different regions, and in particular in the evaporator region relative to an adiabatic region.
However, in other embodiments, if the condenser region was relatively large and there was significant pressure difference between the liquid and vapor phases, an intermediate substrate 110 could provide advantages in the condenser region as well.
The aspect ratio is commonly defined as the ratio of one major dimension of a structure to another major dimension of a structure. For pillars, channels, trenches, grooves or other features used in heat pipe applications, the effective aspect ratio may refer to the ratio between the height and the width of the region occupied by a fluid, such as a liquid 140 flowing through a wicking structure 210. In some embodiments, the intermediate substrate 110 may include one section (as shown by example in
For some desirable micromachining processes, such as wet chemical etching, it may be difficult to achieve a high aspect ratio in the wicking structure 210. Interleaving two structures may achieve a higher aspect ratio in the wicking structure, than could otherwise be achieved using a single wet-etched structure. The intermediate substrate 110 may include another section (as shown by example in
Thus, the addition of the intermediate substrate 110 allows for optimization of the wicking structure 210 in each of the three operational regions of the cooling device, and in a way that could be compatible with micromachining processes, such as wet etching techniques, and assembly techniques.
Without loss of generality, the wicking structure 210 could be formed by dry etching, wet chemical etching, other forms of micromachining, macromachining, sawing with a dicing saw, and many other types of processes. In some embodiments, dry etching could provide high aspect ratio channels, where the depth is comparable or perhaps even larger than the width of the channels. However, dry etching may be limited to smaller regions and may not be desirable for large-scale manufacturing, compared to wet etching processes. Mask-based wet etching could be desirable as it could be applicable to relatively large etch regions, could be cost effective, and could be compatible with high-volume manufacturing. In some embodiments, photolithography-based methods could be used to dry or wet etching.
In some embodiments the wicking structure 210 could be formed by standard wet chemical etching techniques. In some embodiments, wet chemical etching can limit the aspect ratio, which is the ratio of the wicking channel depth to the wicking channel width. In some embodiments that use wet etching, the wicking channel width can be at least 2 to 2.5 times wider than the wicking channel etch depth. In some embodiments, where the wicking channel width is at least 2 to 2.5 times wider than the wicking channel etch depth, there could be significant disadvantages to low aspect ratio wicking channels.
The pressure between the vapor and liquid phases can be described by the Laplace pressure, ΔP=Pv−Pl=2γ/R, where Pv is the vapor pressure, Pl is the liquid pressure, γ is the surface tension, and R is the radius of curvature of the surface. A high pressure difference between the liquid and vapor phases could be obtained by decreasing the radius of curvature, R.
Generally, a smaller radius of curvature can be achieved by having material surfaces that exhibit low contact angles, and by forming geometries with relatively small geometric dimensions. In many embodiments, it may be desirable to have low viscous losses for the liquid flowing through the wicking structure 210. Small geometric dimensions in the wicking structure 210 can significantly increase the viscous losses of liquid flowing through the wicking structure 210. Therefore, in some embodiments, it may be difficult to achieve low viscous losses, and have a meniscus with a small radius of curvature that can support a high pressure difference between the vapor and liquid phases. The current application discloses a means in which some embodiments can be configured for maximum capillary forces, support large pressure differences between the liquid and vapor phases, for example in the evaporator region. The current application discloses a means in which some embodiments can be configured to minimize viscous losses of the liquid flowing in the wicking structure 210, by using different structures in the different regions.
The plurality of microstructures 112 are interleaved with the wicking structure 210 of the metal substrate 212, and where the microstructures 112 and wicking structure 210 are wetted by a liquid 140. The arrow in
By interleaving the microstructures 112 of the intermediate substrate 110 with the wicking structure 210 of the metal substrate 212, the interface area between the solid and liquid 140 could be substantially increased. This could increase the capillary forces that are applied to liquid 140, and could increase the amount of heat transferred from the metal solid to liquid 140.
In some embodiments, titanium could be used as a substrate material. The thermal conductivity of titanium is approximately kTi=20 W/(m K), and liquid water is approximately, kW=0.6 W/(m K). Since the thermal conductivity of titanium is approximately 30 times higher than liquid water, the intermediate substrate 110 can provide additional thermal conduction pathways, which can decrease the thermal resistance between the outside surface of the thermal ground plane and liquid 140 located in the wicking structure 210. Furthermore, the microstructures 112 contained within the intermediate substrate 110 could increase the solid-liquid interface area, which could decrease the thermal resistance, and increase the critical heat flux that can occur, between titanium solid and liquid 140.
In some embodiments, the combination of the wicking structure 210 and the intermediate substrate 110 can effectively increase the aspect ratio of the channels in the wicking structure 210. Under very large pressure differences between the liquid and vapor phases, the meniscus 180 may be pushed down and not wet the top of the wicking structure 210. However, in some embodiments, the shape of the composite wicking structure 210 formed by interleaving the microstructures 112 of the intermediate substrate 110 with the wicking structure 210 may be chosen such that under large pressure differences across the meniscus 180, there is only partial dryout (or at least dryout could be substantially delayed) of the wicking structure 210 (so that the TGP continues to function), and the thermal ground plane does not undergo catastrophic dryout.
In previous two-phase heat transfer devices, instabilities can occur due to evaporation and/or boiling as the liquid phase is converted to the vapor phase. These instabilities can cause local dryout of the wicking structure 210 and can degrade the performance of the thermal ground plane. These instabilities can be substantially decreased in some of the current embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the shape of the wicking structure 210 formed by interleaving the microstructures 112 of the intermediate substrate 110 with the wicking structure 210 may be chosen such that there can be substantial viscous resistance to liquid flow in the wicking structure 210. This viscous resistance can be advantageous as it can increase the stability of the evaporation and/or boiling process that may occur in the evaporator.
In some embodiments, where high-performance thermal energy transfer is desired, it may be important to decrease viscous losses of the liquid in the adiabatic region. In some embodiments, an intermediate substrate 110 could be used to isolate the vapor chamber 300 from the liquid 140 in the wicking structure 210. In some embodiments, where there is a large difference in pressure between the vapor and the liquid in the wicking structure 210, the vapor chamber 300 can be isolated from the liquid in the wicking structure 210 by a solid intermediate substrate 110, which could prevent the high difference in pressure from negatively affecting flow liquid in the wicking structure 210.
In earlier TGPs, wet-etched wicking channels could have low aspect ratios (i.e. low ratio between the channel height to the channel width). In some embodiments, if there is a large pressure difference between the vapor and liquid phases, the liquid phase may not completely fill the wicking channel, and the liquid 140 flow through the wicking structure 210 could be negatively impacted, and could lead the dryout of the wicking channel. In some embodiments of the current disclosure, an intermediate substrate 110 could be used to isolate the vapor chamber 300 from liquid 140 contained in the wicking structure 210, and could delay or even prevent dryout of the wicking structure 210. The liquid 140 may collect in the narrow regions, as shown in
In
As shown in
Wicking structures 210 may be comprised of channels, pillars, or other structures. If these structures are formed by wet etching or other fabrication processes, they may be comprised of features with low aspect ratios. Earlier wicking structures 210 could be comprised of low-aspect ratio channels or pillars, and did not include an intermediate structure. In these earlier low-aspect ratio wicking structures 210, a large pressure difference between the liquid phase and the vapor phase could cause the meniscus 180 between the two phases to extend towards the bottom of the channel, thereby decreasing the amount of liquid 140 occupying the channel and significantly decreasing the mass flow of the liquid. This in turn could cause poor heat transfer performance and possible dryout of the wicking structure 210.
As shown in
Supporting higher pressure differences between the liquid phase and the vapor phase allows for more heat to be transferred without drying out the wicking structure 210 as well as making the TGP more resistant to viscous losses resulting from thinner designs. Thus the addition of the intermediate substrate 110 may achieve both higher heat transfer and thinner ground planes, simultaneously.
In some embodiments, the thermal ground plane could be filled with a specified mass of saturated liquid/vapor mixture such that difference in pressure between the vapor and liquid phases in the condenser is well controlled. In some embodiments the mass of the liquid/vapor mixture could be chosen so that part of the condenser region could contain liquid at a higher pressure than adjacent vapor.
An earlier titanium thermal ground plane might only be capable of transferring about 10 W of thermal energy before the wicking structure 210 exhibits dryout at an operating vapor temperature of 30° C., compared to 30 W for an illustrative embodiment of the current thermal ground plane using an intermediate substrate 110. Similarly, as vapor temperature is increased, the maximum thermal energy transferred for an illustrative embodiment of the current thermal ground plane is increased to 35 W and 40 W, for operating vapor temperatures of 50° C. and 70° C., respectively. In all cases, the maximum thermal energy transferred for an illustrative embodiment of the current thermal ground plane is 15-20 W more than what is observed from an earlier thermal ground plane.
The illustrative embodiments shown in
Because it is robust, effective, small and shock resistant, two-phase cooling devices, such as Thermal Ground Planes (TGPs) may be especially suited to mobile or portable applications. For example, the titanium based thermal ground plane (TiTGP) described above may be adapted for use in a portable devices, to increase robustness and efficiency and decrease size and cost. One such device commonly used device is known as a smart phone. However, the structures described here may also be applied to other mobile computing and/or communicating devices such as laptops, cards and tablets, smart phones, and head-mounted devices.
A simplified cross-sectional view of the titanium based thermal ground plane, as adapted for the portable application, is shown in
It should be understood that the term “two-phase cooling devices” and “thermal ground plane” are used interchangeably herein. Either term may designate the titanium-based thermal ground plane (TiTGP) described above with respect to
The wick structure 210 shown in
Accordingly, the thermal ground plane 500 is depicted as having two basic components, a titanium backplane 520 and the titanium based wick plane 510. The generic wicking structure 510 should be understood to include any or all of the previously described features, such as an intermediate substrate, microstructures, standoffs, and metal substrates as described with respect to
The components of the portable device are shown in
The front surface 410 may include an LED glass screen surface. The middle frame 420, and the back surface are typically an aluminum alloy, 430. In particular, both the middle frame 420 and the back surface 430 may be made of aluminum or an aluminum magnesium alloy, for light weight and strength. The middle frame 420 provides the mechanical rigidity and together with the back surface, may define the skeleton of the portable device, and providing mechanical strength and robustness.
The middle frame 420 often provides structural support and rigidity to the portable device 400. The middle frame generally spans the interior region of the enclosure. The circuitry which controls the portable device may be contained on an integrated circuit chip 450, enclosed within the outer casing and may be attached to the middle frame. A fan may also be provided inside the outer casing to spread the heat typically generated by the circuitry which operates the portable device. The middle frame 420 is generally about 0.2 to 0.8 mm, and often about 0.5 mm hick as shown in
The front surface 410 and metal or plastic back surface 430 may form the outer casing of the portable device, in contrast to the middle frame 420 which is generally disposed in the interior of the outer casing and is often metal. Most smart phones, for example, have a number of layers forming an outer shell and an internal skeleton.
To dissipate the heat generated by the IC, a heat pipe 440 is often included in the enclosure.
One approach to dissipating more heat when using the heat pipe is to dispose thin graphite sheets in the interior, disposed between the chip and the front frame surface 410, the metal frame 420, or the rear back surface 430. However, graphite is expensive, the layers thick, about 0.3 mm, and cannot be made thinner because of this mechanical fragility and tendency to fracture. As a thermal solution, it is not very efficient, and as a conductive element, it has the possibility of shorting the IC chip 450. Accordingly manufacturers are eager for a new solution to conduct the heat away from the chip such that the portable device is an efficient and reliable and comfortable to use, and to maximize the time between battery charges. Note that the total thickness of the portable device middle frame with a heat pipe is nearly 1 mm.
In contrast to the traditional heat pipe 440, a TiTGP may be used to dissipate the heat generated by the heat sources, especially the IC chip 450 within the portable device enclosure 400.
Because the overall thickness of the wick structure 210 may be on the order of between about 0.1 and 0.15 mm, the entire thickness of the thermal ground plane plus the titanium base metal frame maybe on the order of 0.6 to 0.65 mm thick. Accordingly, the overall thickness of the middle frame (including the TiTGP) of the portable devices may be on the order of 0.6 to 0.65 mm. This allows a reduction in the overall thickness of nearly a half of a millimeter, as will be described further below. This represents a substantial improvement in thickness of the previously described traditional heat pipe technology as was shown in
The remainder of
Disclosed here and illustrated in
In one embodiment, the portable device may include a middle frame member with a gap that accommodates the thermal ground plane 500, the thermal ground plane 500 having a wicking structure 510 and a backplane 520. This embodiment is shown first in
The first exemplary embodiment of the portable device 400′ using a TiTGP is shown in the simplified cross-section of
In this embodiment, the middle frame 420 may have a cavity formed therein to accommodate an inserted TiTGP 500. In this case, a cavity approximately between about 100 and about 1000 microns deep may be etched into the titanium based middle frame 420. The TiTGP may then be attached there in by welding, or bonding, gluing, for example. Accordingly, the portable device may have a thermal ground plane disposed in a cavity formed in a middle frame member 420, wherein the middle frame member 420 comprises titanium. The cavity formed in the middle frame member may be about 400 microns in depth, leaving about 100 microns of titanium spanning the middle frame member.
The second exemplary embodiment of the portable device 400″ using a TiTGP, is shown in
Accordingly, in this embodiment, the TiTGP forms an integral component, such that the middle structure is incorporated into the design of the TiTGP, serving as the backplane 120. In this case, the middle frame 420 may comprise titanium. A 0.4 mm cavity may be formed in the middle titanium member 420 which will be the vapor cavity 530 for the TiTGP 500. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the portable device may include a thermal ground plane 500 which in turn comprises a vapor cavity 530, wherein the vapor cavity 530 is enclosed by the wicking structure 510 and the titanium backplane 520. In this embodiment, the wicking structure 510 is bonded to the metal backplane to form a hermetically-sealed vapor cavity. The cavity may be sealed by a laser weld, to form a hermetically-sealed vapor cavity, as described previously. The vapor cavity may be configured with one or more recessed regions, to provide varying vapor chamber heights, as described previously.
In this embodiment, the TiTGP 500 is formed directly in and from the material of the middle frame 420, and the metal of the middle frame forms the backplane 120 of the TiTGP. The remainder of the TiTGP, that is, the wicking structure 210 and the metal backplane 120 may be formed from the other surfaces as shown. In this embodiment, the wicking structure 540, may be the surface to which the chip 450 is attached. In this embodiment, the TiTGP 500 including a titanium middle frame 520 totally replaces the middle frame as a unit.
TiTGP in this embodiment may use the titanium middle frame 520 as its backplane 120. Accordingly, the cavity formed may be about 3 cm across, although the titanium middle frame will be substantially wider. Because the middle frame 520 extends across the entire width of the portable device 400, the cavity width is only a fraction of the width of the titanium middle frame, which extends at least a cm beyond the vapor cavity on each side. The extensive width of the titanium middle frame gives the portable device 400 its structural rigidity and helps to dissipate the heat from the IC. Accordingly, the thermal ground plane may form a structural element of the portable device.
Alternatively, the TiTGP can be used as part of the back cover 430 of a portable device. This embodiment, portable device 480 is illustrated in
Because of the very slim form factor of the TiTGP, it is also possible to couple two thermal ground planes together, such that the TiTGP includes a plurality of vapor cavities and wicking structures. In small, enclosed, portable devices, the thermal module must reject the heat from chip and spread it out across the device uniformly (isothermal condition). The plural TiTGPs 600, 700 concept may provide an excellent isothermal surface for this heat dissipation.
The plural TiTGP 600, 700, 800 has much higher thermal performance than a single TiTGP. Shown in
TiTGP #1 has vapor cavity 531 and may be disposed beneath TiTGP #2 and may be thermally coupled to the heat generating chip 450. In plural TiTGP 600, the heat source chip 450 may be coupled to the underside of TiTGP #1, and in thermal communication with the wicking structure 511 of TiTGP #1. TiTGP #1 then transfers its heat to TiTGP #2 through common member 555. The common member 555 may provide a conductive path to transfer heat from TiTGP #1 to #2, more specifically to its wicking structure 512. Using a common member 555 allows this efficient thermal transfer. It avoids using any other thermal interface film/material which would otherwise drop the temperature and consequently reduce the thermal performance of the thermal ground plane 500. Accordingly, TiTGP #2 dissipates heat from TiTGP #1 via the common member indicates in
While
More generally, the TiTGPs shown in
Discussion now turns to the fabrication of the TiTCPs for the portable applications. The wicking structures, and outer shell of the thermal modules 500, 600 and 700 may be made by stamping the shapes from a metal material. The smaller microstructures may be made by microstamping. Alternatively, the contours and cavities may be made by chemical etching using, for example, hydrofluoric acid (HF) and nitric acid ((HNO3). As is known in the art, portions of the titanium material can be protected from the etchant by a coating or masking layer. All exposed surfaces may then be etched to form the grooves, cavities and smaller structures.
The TiTGP may be provided with a quantity of working fluid using, for example, the method described in Ser. No. 14/749,439. The working fluid may be, for example, water, and the sealing methodology used to enclose the working fluid in the vapor cavity may be laser welding.
Accordingly, disclosed here is a portable device including a thermal ground plane containing a vapor region and a liquid region for a working fluid, disposed within an outer casing of the portable device, wherein the thermal ground plane comprises a titanium backplane, a vapor cavity and wicking structure formed on a metal substrate, an integrated circuit chip in thermal communication with the thermal ground plane such that heat generated by the chip is distributed throughout the portable device by the thermal ground plane, and wherein the thermal ground plane is in thermal communication with at least one structural element of the portable device, and the at least one structural element is substantially isothermal, wherein the temperature gradient across the structural element is less than 10° C.
The portable device may have a vapor cavity which is enclosed by the metal substrate and the titanium backplane, wherein the metal substrate is sealed by a laser weld to the metal backplane to form a hermetically-sealed vapor cavity. The structural element may be at least one of a middle frame member, a front face, and a back surface of the portable device, wherein the front face and the back surface define the outer casing of the portable device, and the middle frame member is a structural member within the outer casing.
The thermal ground plane may further comprise a wicking, wherein the wicking structure may include a plurality of microstructures that are interleaved with at least one region of the wicking structure to form high effective aspect ratio wicking structures, in at least one region of the thermal ground plane, and wherein one or more of the microstructures have a height of between about 1-1000 micrometers, a width of between about 1-1000 micrometers, and a spacing of between about 1-1000 micrometers, and wherein the microstructures comprise at least one of channels, pillars, grooves and trenches. The thermal ground plane may be a structural element of the portable device, and is mechanically coupled to the outer or inner or middle casing of the portable device but suspended inside the outer casing by attachment to the middle frame member. The thermal ground plane may be disposed in a cavity formed in a middle frame member, wherein the middle frame member comprises titanium. The cavity may be between about 100 and about 1000 microns deep, leaving about 100 to 200 microns of titanium spanning the middle frame member across the cavity.
The thermal ground plane may further comprise a titanium enclosure and a titanium wicking plane, wherein the titanium enclosure and the titanium wicking plane together are between about 0.3 mm and about 1.5 mm thick. The thermal ground plane may further include at least one intermediate substrate having a region with a plurality of protrusions that fit conformally into the wicking structure, to form narrow fluid passages through which the fluid is driven by capillary forces. wherein the protrusions are shaped to fit into features in the wicking structure. The effective aspect ratio h/w of the fluid passages between the wicking channel and the intermediate substrate is greater than 1, wherein h is the effective height and w is the width of the fluid channel. A surface of at least one region of the thermal ground plane may be comprised of nanostructured titania (NST).
The thermal ground plane may be disposed on the back surface of the portable device, and wherein the back surface also serves as the wicking structure of the thermal ground plane. The chip may be disposed substantially in the middle of a lateral extent of the thermal ground plane. The thermal ground plane may include a module inserted into a middle frame member of the portable device.
The portable device may have a titanium middle frame member disposed within the outer casing, wherein the middle frame member forms a backplane of the thermal ground plane, and an integrated circuit chip, wherein the integrated circuit is affixed to and in thermal communication with the thermal ground plane. Alternatively, the vapor cavity may be formed in the titanium middle and outer frame member, and sealed by a wicking structure to form the thermal ground plane.
In other embodiments, the thermal ground plane comprises a plurality of vapor chambers and a plurality of wicking structures. A first vapor chamber may be in thermal communication with at least one other vapor chamber through a common metal member, wherein the common metal member is shared structurally and thermally between the plurality of vapor chambers, such that heat generated by the chip is distributed throughout the portable device, and the outer casing is substantially isothermal. The thermal ground plane with plurality of vapor chambers may have a non-uniform cross section. In the plural thermal ground plane, the vapor chambers each contain wicking structures, and the wicking structures of the plural vapor chambers are disposed above one another.
While various details have been described in conjunction with the exemplary implementations outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements, and/or substantial equivalents, whether known or that are or may be presently unforeseen, may become apparent upon reviewing the foregoing disclosure. Accordingly, the exemplary implementations set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, not limiting.
This non-Provisional patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/340,308, filed May 23, 2016 and incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
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