Title :
Cryogenic/sub-ambient cooling of electronics: revisited
Author :
Suman, Shivesh ; Fedorov, Andrei ; Joshi, Yogendra
Author_Institution :
G.W. Woodruff Sch. of Mech. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
Operation of electronic devices at cryogenic temperatures has been considered a compelling option for enhancing their performance since long. Literature abounds with studies on cooling of electronics using liquid nitrogen from pool boiling to single and two-phase jet impingement. In spite of the performance benefits and the existing knowledgebase, attempts to operate microprocessors at cryogenic/sub-ambient temperature have not met with commercial success. Instead, scaling of CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) devices through reduction of gate length has proved to be a more viable option over the past few decades. However, as lithography scales approach a few times the atomic dimensions ("5 nm node"), further performance enhancement using traditional approaches may not be possible. Even at "50 nm" technology node, the sub-threshold power becomes comparable to the active power, due to the increase in leakage current at small gate lengths. As a result, operating electronic devices at low temperature again emerges as an attractive approach to performance enhancement. In the present work, a model for comparing different candidate technologies for realizing sub-ambient cooling is presented. Using this model, some promising candidate refrigeration technologies are analyzed. Continued interest in the use of liquid nitrogen for electronics cooling is reviewed. Some technologies, which can be used for integration of cryocoolers to electronic chips, are discussed.
Keywords :
CMOS digital integrated circuits; boiling; cooling; cryogenic electronics; integrated circuit modelling; leakage currents; lithography; microprocessor chips; nitrogen; refrigeration; thermal resistance; CMOS scaling; N; atomic dimensions; complementary metal oxide semiconductor; cryocoolers integration; cryogenic subambient cooling; cryogenic temperatures; electronic chips; electronic device operation; electronics cooling; leakage current; liquid nitrogen; lithography scales; microprocessors; pool boiling; refrigeration; two-phase jet impingement; CMOS technology; Cryogenics; Current density; Electronics cooling; Leakage current; Microprocessor chips; Nitrogen; Power supplies; Temperature; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems, 2004. ITHERM '04. The Ninth Intersociety Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8357-5
DOI :
10.1109/ITHERM.2004.1319178