Analysis of a platform for thermal management studies of microelectronics cooling methods

This study describes the demonstration and analysis of a platform for thermal management studies of microelectronics cooling methods. The platform consists of an aluminum base with a heater cartridge inserted to simulate the microelectronics heat source. Over the last decade, several promising methods for next generation cooling of microelectronics have been proposed and studied using various testing platforms. However, it is difficult to compare results obtained for different platforms. The platform presented in this study is applicable for testing several different cooling methods thereby eliminating the difficulty in comparing results across methods. In this study, the platform is first demonstrated for testing of phase change materials as a cooling method for microelectronics. Then, results obtained from the demonstration guide further analysis of the platform using experimental, analytical and computational approaches. The results of the analysis indicate the applicability of a lumped parameter model for platforms of the type presented in this study. Furthermore, the results quantify the applicability of the zero flux boundary condition often assumed for thermal management studies and also show that, as the area of the insulated portion of the platform increases, the thermal response time increases due to the decrease in the surface area for heat transfer. Finally, overall, the study confirms the utility of the platform for thermal management studies and provides insight into its performance.