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Purdue University scientists have taken a new method from air conditioner technology in their next innovation for a whole new way to cool down ever-more powerful pc/ computer chips. Their new experimental system, which flushes a refrigerant through tiny channels cut into chips, is intended for the high-demand power electronics found in radar system and advanced weapons systems such as laser-based weapons, said Issam Mudawar, an engineer in medical field (professor at Purdue).

A team member: Mudawar, who’s in lead of the research, said the air-condition computer chips cooling system should be able to cool the chips that produce higher than 1000 watts of heat for about every half-inch square of circuitry. He said that would be a fivefold increase over the heat-removing abilities of existing systems that typically rely on air-cooling to waft heat away from microprocessors.

“Basically what we’re doing is opening the window of opportunity in terms of heat dissipation, so that chip developers can make more aggressive chips, more demanding chips,” said Mudawar.

The new air-condition computer chips cooling system uses tiny parallel grooves named microchannels cut in a chip’s surface and covered with a metal plate. Hydrofluorocarbons — a liquid used in air conditioners to cool air — are flushed through tiny holes in the metal plate called microjets and into the channels to draw heat away from the chip.

As it flows through the grooves, the liquid bubbles and partially vaporizes, adding to its ability to cool. After each pass, the fluid and vapor leaves the chip and enters a loop where it is returned to an all-liquid state and then comes back into the channels to cool again.


Every personal computers get their brain power from a conventional microprocessors that rarely dissipate more than 100 watts of heat for about every half-inch square. But actually, computing systems needed for complex devices such as weapons systems that generate more heat.

And as computer chips used in those advanced computers become smaller and more powerful, scientists have to find a way to separate and remove the additional heat that puts those electronics at risk of a meltdown and damaging it.

Our goal is to remove the highest number of watts — a measure of the rate of heat coming from a chip’s surface — to maintain it below a certain temperature. That’s typically under than 257 degrees Fahrenheit, said Mudawar.


Some of their work was presented in May during a study of ways in reducing heat in computer chip electronics. About the past four years, the Purdue team has received about $500,000 in funding from the Office of Naval Research. This new research holds promise in the government’s push with academia and private industry to find new ways cool down microprocessors needed for future military weapon system. This is include the high-power electronics found in lasers, propulsion and military sensor arrays.

• Mrs. Thoughtskoto Says:
  July 27th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

  Sounds great. I remember how friends used to complain about their computers that over heat because their room ac and computer fan can’t handle it at all. We’ll look forward once this is available to the market, hope this will be as affordable as I’m thinking.

• kento Says:
  July 28th, 2008 at 6:49 am

  Yeah, this is absolutely great! but maybe they’ll use only on supercomputer though…? or for research lab computer?
  But this sounds great:
  The new air-condition computer chips cooling system uses tiny parallel grooves named microchannels cut in a chip’s surface and covered with a metal plate. Hydrofluorocarbons — a liquid used in air conditioners to cool air — are flushed through tiny holes in the metal plate called microjets and into the channels to draw heat away from the chip.