Heat exchanger retention mechanism

Details Heat exchanger retention mechanism Heat exchanger retention mechanism

2001-12-27

2003-04-15

Chervinsky, Boris (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S698000, C361S701000, C361S702000, C361S719000, C257S714000, C174S015100, C165S080400

Reexamination Certificate

active

06549407

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for removal of heat from electronic devices. In particular, the present invention relates to a threaded heat dissipation device retention mechanism, and, most particularly, to such mechanisms used with refrigeration or liquid cooling systems.
2. State of the Art
Higher performance, lower cost, increased miniaturization of integrated circuit components, and greater packaging densities of integrated circuits are ongoing goals of the computer industry. As these goals are achieved, microelectronic dice become smaller. Accordingly, the density of power consumption of the integrated circuit components in the microelectronic die has increased, which, in turn, increases the average junction temperature of the microelectronic die. If the temperature of the microelectronic die becomes too high, the integrated circuits of the microelectronic die may be damaged or destroyed.
Various apparatus and techniques have been used and are presently being used for removing heat from microelectronic dice. One such heat dissipation technique involves the attachment of an integrated heat spreader to a microelectronic die.
FIG. 10
illustrates an assembly
300
comprising a microelectronic die
302
(illustrated as a flip chip) physically and electrically attached to a substrate
304
(such as an interposer, a motherboard, or the like) by a plurality of solder balls
306
extending between pads
308
on an active surface
312
of the microelectronic die
302
and lands
314
on the substrate
304
. To mechanically and physically reinforce the solder balls
306
connecting the microelectronic die pads
308
and the substrate lands
314
, an underfill material
310
is disposed therebetween.
The assembly
300
further includes an integrated heat spreader
316
comprising a conductive plate
318
having at least one extension
322
. The integrated heat spreader
316
is attached to a surface
324
of the substrate
304
by an adhesive layer
326
between the substrate surface
324
and the extensions
322
. A back surface
332
of the microelectronic die
302
is in thermal contact with a first surface
328
of the integrated heat spreader conductive plate
318
. A first thermal interface material
334
may be disposed between the microelectronic die back surface
332
and the integrated heat spreader conductive plate first surface
328
to enhance conductive heat transfer therebetween.
The integrated heat spreader
316
is usually constructed from a thermally conductive material, such as copper, copper alloys, aluminum, aluminum alloys, and the like. The heat generated by the microelectronic die
302
is drawn into the integrated heat spreader
316
by conductive heat transfer. It is, of course, understood that additional heat dissipation devices can be attached to a second surface
338
of the integrated heat spreader conductive plate
318
. These additional heat dissipation devices may include heat slugs and high surface area (finned) heat sinks, and may further include fans attached thereto, as will be evident to those skilled in the art. However, with the increasing heat generation by microelectronic dice, such heat dissipation devices have become or will become insufficient for removing heat. Thus, heat exchangers, such as liquid cooling and refrigeration systems, have become or will become necessary. In particular, refrigeration systems look to be the most promising heat dissipation solution for most of the future processor applications, as they are able to provide very low thermal resistances.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, a heat exchanger
342
is placed in thermal contact with the integrated heat spreader conductive plate second surface
338
. A heat transfer fluid (represented by arrows
352
) flows into inlet
344
, draws heat from the heat exchanger
342
, and exits from outlet
346
, wherein the heat is removed from the heat transfer fluid
352
by heat exchange in a remote location (not shown), as will be evident to those skilled in the art. A second thermal interface material
354
is disposed between the heat exchanger
342
and the integrated heat spreader conductive plate second surface
338
. The heat exchanger
342
is held in place by a retention clip
356
.
However, in such a configuration, the force of the retention clip
356
on the heat exchanger
342
and the thermal cycling of the microelectronic die
302
during operation may result in the second thermal interface material
354
being “pumped out” from between the heat exchanger
342
and the integrated heat spreader conductive plate second surface
338
. The loss of the second thermal interface material
354
results in higher thermal resistances. This problem is particularly an issue when a phase-change material is used for the second thermal interface material
354
.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop retention mechanisms for the attachment of refrigeration and liquid cooling systems to effectively remove heat from microelectronic dice.


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