Thermal and electrical effects of staggered micropin-fin dimensions for cooling of 3D microsystems

Microfluidic cooling shows promise in cooling next generation 3D microsystems when integrated with through-silicon-vias. In this work, electrical and thermal effects of staggered micropin-fin heat sink dimensions are analyzed using deionized water. An experimental study of five different silicon micropin-fin arrays with a nominal height of 200 μm and diameters down to 30 μm was conducted at flow rates up to approximately 100mL/min and pressure drops up to approximately 200 kPa. The lowest convective thermal resistance achieved was 0.098 °C/W across a 1 cm² die. These experimental results were then used to simulate temperature profiles of an interposer-cooled 3D stack.