Ultrathin heat spreader uses fluid core to cool processors, displays
By Margery Conner, Technical Editor -- EDN, October 17, 2006
Power-hungry components, such as graphics processors and LED displays, currently use a combination of heat spreaders, pipes, and fans to wick away heat (
). However, fans introduce reliability concerns, and pipes are bulky (
). The Microspreader, a new heat spreader from Celsia, uses ultrathin chambers of fluid divided by a 1.44-mm-thick vaporization zone and boast a thermal conductivity of more than 5000W/mK, compared with 386W/mK for copper or 205W/mK for aluminum, two common heat-spreader materials. As an example of the price-performance of the Microspreader, George Meyers, Celsia's vice president of sales, claims that a similarly priced, smaller, lighter, and more reliable Microspreader could replace a $4 fan assembly in a PC.
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