Power electronics refers to the application of solid-state electronics related to the control and conversion of electrical power. This conversion is typically performed by Silicon, Silicon Carbide, and Gallium Nitride devices that are packaged into power modules. One of the factors associated with the power modules is that they tend to generate heat. While the heat generated by the device is due to many factors, it generally relates to the fact that the device efficiency is always less than 100%, and the efficiency loss typically becomes heat. Unfortunately, device performance tends to erode with increased temperatures and at certain temperature thresholds the device is destroyed.
An additional factor for thermal management relates to the packaging of a number of devices in small footprints. The power density at which the devices, and thus the module can operate, therefore depends on the ability to remove this generated heat. For many applications, including military and commercial aviation power electronics, the highest possible power density is needed.
The most common form of the thermal management of power electronics is by heat sinks. Heat sinks operate by transferring the heat away from the heat source thereby maintaining a lower temperature of the source. There are various types of heat sinks known in the thermal management field including air cooled and liquid cooled devices.
One example of the thermal management of a power module includes the attachment of a heat sink with embedded tubes to provide liquid cooling of the power module. The heat sink is typically a metallic structure, such as aluminum or copper. The tubes are generally metallic as well, with copper being the most common material. Some substance in liquid form such as water is passed through the tubes, and subsequently passes through the tubes in the structure. Typical tube outside diameters (ODs) are ½″, ⅜″, and occasionally as small as ¼″. Due to turn radius and pressure limitations, there are usually no more than 4 to 6 tube passages per six-inch width.
The heat sink is typically coupled to the power module base with a thermal interface material (TIM) dispersed therebetween. The thermal interface material may comprise thermal greases, compliant thermal pads, or the like. Although a relatively good thermal contact is accomplished, the thermal interface material has certain thermal resistance, which is disadvantageous to heat exchange between the heat sink and the heated surface. The thermal interface material is a better thermal conductor than air, but still tends to be the largest single component of thermal resistance between the heat source and the liquid cooling.
One approach utilizes self-contained micro-channel heat sinks having micrometer-sized channels. However, in order to assure good thermal contact, thermal interface materials are still often employed between the millichannel heat sinks and the respective heated surfaces.
One implementation described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,353,859, incorporated by reference herein for all purposes, provides for a system that delivers cooling fluid to the backside of the substrate with a metallurgical mounting.
Despite the advancements and improvements, there is a continued need for new and improved heat sinks, and stacks and apparatuses using the heat sinks.
A cooling device for an electronic module mounted on a baseplate is provided in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The cooling device comprises an upper surface configured to contact the baseplate, an inlet manifold configured to receive a coolant, an outlet manifold configured to exhaust the coolant, and at least one set of millichannels in the upper surface. The at least one set of millichannels defines at least one heat sink region with at least one groove about one or more millichannels in the respective heat sink region with the groove configured to receive a seal. The at least one heat sink region establishes direct contact of the coolant with the baseplate, and the millichannels are configured to receive the coolant from the inlet manifold and to deliver the coolant to the outlet manifold.
A stack for cooling an electronic device is provided in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. The stack comprises a heat sink, a baseplate configured to be mated to the upper surface of the heat sink, and a substrate disposed on the baseplate and configured to be coupled to the electronic device. The heat sink comprises an upper surface, an inlet manifold configured to receive a coolant, an outlet manifold configured to exhaust the coolant, and a plurality of millichannels recessed downwardly from the upper surface. The millichannels defines a region with a groove about the region, and are configured to receive the coolant from the inlet manifold and to deliver the coolant to the outlet manifold. A seal is disposed in the groove.
An embodiment of the invention further provides an apparatus. The apparatus comprises at least one heat sink. Each heat sink comprises a substantially planar member with at least one upper surface, an inlet manifold configured to receive a coolant, an outlet manifold configured to exhaust the coolant, a plurality of millichannels on the upper surface and configured to receive the coolant from the inlet manifold and to deliver the coolant to the outlet manifold, and a groove about the millichannels with a seal in the groove. The apparatus further comprises at least one electronic module configured to mate with the at least one upper surface and forming a liquid tight seal.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention relates generally to heat sinks, and stacks and apparatuses using the heat sinks. More particularly, the invention relates to millichannel heat sinks, and stacks and apparatuses using the millichannel heat sinks. As used herein, the millichannel is referring to the main cooling channel's width and height being on the order of millimeters in each dimension.
As illustrated in
In the illustrated embodiment, the heat sink 11 is in a rectangular shape, and comprises an upper surface 110, a first side surface 111, a second side surface 112 opposite to the first side surface 111, a third side surface 113, and a fourth side surface 114 opposite to the third side surface 113. It should be noted that the exemplary heat sink 11 in
In embodiments of the invention, the heat sink 11 is configured to cool the electronic module 12. Therefore, the heat sink 11 may comprise at least one thermally conductive material, non-limiting examples of which may include copper, aluminum, nickel, molybdenum, titanium, and alloys thereof. In some examples, the heat sink 11 may comprise at least one thermally conductive material, non-limiting examples of which may include metal matrix composites such as aluminum silicon carbide (AlSiC), aluminum graphite, and copper graphite. In other examples, the heat sink 11 may comprise at least one thermally conductive material, non-limiting examples of which may include ceramics such as aluminum oxide and silicon nitride ceramic. Alternatively, the heat sink 11 may comprise at least one thermoplastic material. In the illustrated embodiment, the heat sink 11 comprises aluminum.
In the exemplary embodiment, the heat sink 11 comprises an inlet manifold 115 and an outlet manifold 116, which in this example are both recessed into the heat sink 11 from the first side surface 111. In non-limiting examples, both the inlet manifold 115 and the outlet manifold 116 may be recessed into the heat sink 111 from one of the second, third and fourth side surfaces 112-114. Alternatively, the inlet manifold 115 and the outlet manifold 116 may be recessed into the heat sink 111 from different side surfaces, respectively. In embodiments of the invention, the inlet manifold 115 is configured to receive a coolant and the outlet manifold 116 is configured to exhaust the coolant. Non-limiting examples of the coolant comprise de-ionized water and other non-electrically conductive liquids.
For the exemplary arrangement in
In the exemplary embodiment, each millichannel 117 comprises an inlet 118 configured to be in fluid communication with the inlet manifold 115 and an outlet 119 configured to be in fluid communication with the outlet manifold 116. In one non-limiting example, the inlet 118 and the outlet 119 may be disposed to be in fluid communication with the respective manifolds 115, 116. Thus, the millichannels 117 can receive the coolant from the inlet manifold 115 and deliver the coolant to the outlet manifold 116. According to more particular embodiments, the millichannels 117 and the manifolds 115, 116 are configured to deliver the coolant uniformly. Additionally, in certain examples, the heat sink 11 may comprise two or more inlet manifolds 115 and/or two or more outlet manifolds 116 in fluid communication with the respective inlets and outlets. The multiple manifolds allow for non-uniform coolant delivery.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the millichannel 117 may comprise a U-shaped cross section. Non-limiting examples of the cross sections of the millichannel 117 may further include circular, triangular, trapezoidal, and square/rectangular cross-sections. And the millichannels 117 may be cast, machined, or etched, and may be smooth or rough. The rough millichannels may have relatively larger surface area to enhance turbulence of the coolant so as to augment thermal transfer therein. In non-limiting examples, the millichannels may employ features such as dimples, bumps, or the like therein to increase the roughness thereof. Similarly to the millichannels 117, the manifolds 115, 116 may also have a variety of cross-sectional shapes, including but not limited to, round, circular, triangular, trapezoidal, and square/rectangular cross-sections. The channel shape is selected based on the applications and manufacturing constraints and affects the applicable manufacturing methods, as well as coolant flow.
For some embodiments, the manifolds 115 and 116 may have relatively larger diameters than the millichannels 117. In one non-limiting example, the width of the millichannel is in a range of about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm, the depth of the millichannel is in a range of about 0.5 mm to about 3.0 mm, and the length of the millichannel is in a range of about 10 mm to 100 mm.
For the exemplary arrangement in
In one non-limiting example, the heat sink 11 and the baseplate 120 may define mounting holes 20, 21 (shown in
In operation according to one embodiment, the seals, such as O-rings (not shown), are placed in the grooves 13 and the basplate 120 is secured to the heat sink 11 by fasteners (not shown) that engage the holes 20, 21. The seals provide for liquid tight compartments around each millichannel 117 thereby allowing direct coolant contact with the basplate 120 without the use if interfering thermal interface materials. The fasteners can be nuts and bolts or other fasteners known in the field.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the baseplate 120 may be thermally and electrically conductive. Accordingly, as shown in
For the exemplary arrangement in
Non-limiting examples of the ceramic layer 123 may comprise aluminum oxide (AL2O3), aluminum nitride (AIN), beryllium oxide (BeO), and silicon nitride (Si3N4). Both the DBC and the AMB may be convenient structures for the substrate 122, and the use of the conductive material (in this case, copper) on the ceramic layer 123 may provide thermal and mechanical stability. Alternatively, the conductive layer can comprise other materials, such as gold, silver, and alloys thereof according to different applications. For the arrangement in
Accordingly, for the exemplary arrangements in
It should be noted that the exemplary arrangement in
In other non-limiting examples, as illustrated in
For the embodiment in
In certain embodiments of the invention, the apparatus 10 may comprise more than one heat sink 11 or 44 to cool more than one electronic module 12. One can take the heat sink 44 as an example.
According to one embodiment, each of the heat sinks is aligned with the corresponding electronic device that is the heat source. In a further aspect, devices that generate more heat can be optimally managed by design criteria of the heat sinks and/or the system management. For example, the size and number of the millichannels can be tailored for the cooling requirements and heat sinks requiring more thermal dissipation can have deeper millichannels and would therefore carry more liquid. Similarly, the system controlling the liquid flow can create a greater flow through the heat sinks requiring more cooling capacity. Thermal sensors (not shown) can be used to assist in the thermal management and flow capacity.
While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in typical embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present disclosure. As such, further modifications and equivalents of the disclosure herein disclosed may occur to persons skilled in the art using no more than routine experimentation, and all such modifications and equivalents are believed to be within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.
This invention may have been made with government support under contract number F33615-03-D-2352 awarded by the United States Air Force. The government may have certain rights in the invention.