A Novel Method Utilizing Latent Heat to Effectively, Efficiently and Accurately Cool Microchips

Overview

Microchips are the roots to the rise of AI in the 21st century. Cooling them is a critical task as they produce large amounts of heat and need to stay at a specific functioning temperature ~80°C. Microchips are commonly cooled by an attached cold plate through which cold water flows in and warm water flows out. This specific heat based cooling requires large amounts of water and will not be effective for next-generation microchips. To address the challenges, I proposed and experimentally validated an innovative method that harnesses water’s high latent heat capacity. Water is enabled to boil at temperatures lower than 80°C. This is achieved by maintaining and controlling the absolute pressure inside the cold plate below the atmospheric pressure. This method has significant impacts on microchip cooling: greatly reduced water flow; accurate control of cooling; superior cooling performance; efficient waste heat recovery.

Awards (2)

• Bronze Medal
• Selected for CWSF 2026

Competition history

• CWSF 2026 Curiosity & Ingenuity

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