Application of thermoelectrics to cooling electronics: review and prospects

This paper provides a review of the applications of thermoelectric devices to cooling electronics and prospects for the future. The need to accommodate increased module heat flux and reduce chip operating temperatures is discussed, along with the cooling technology developed within IBM to do this. A brief background discussion of thermoelectric cooling citing some of the recent literature, and a survey of heat flux capability of commercially available modules is provided. Examples are given of early applications of thermoelectric cooling technology within IBM. The paper focuses on the desire to use thermoelectric devices as a means to either augment heat removal from electronic modules or achieve lower operating temperatures. An example considering the augmentation of high performance multichip module cooling with thermoelectrics is presented. The analysis is discussed and summarized in terms of the relevant equations and calculation results. The need for further improvements in the heat pumping capability, /spl Delta/T capability and C.O.P. of thermoelectrics is emphasized. The paper concludes by outlining the improvements needed if thermoelectrics are to compete effectively with vapor-compression based refrigeration systems in electronic cooling applications where high heat loads must be supported at lower temperatures.