A combined solution of thermoelectric coolers and microchannels for multi-chip heat dissipation with precise temperature uniformity control

Effective thermal management with precise temperature uniformity is necessary to improve the performance and stability of multi-chip devices such as active phased array antennas, semiconductor laser radar systems, and light emitting diode (LED) arrays. This study proposes a combined solution for multi-chip devices heat dissipation that integrates thermoelectric coolers (TECs) and microchannel heat sink to tune the temperature of each chip dynamically by controlling multiple TEC currents independently. The equivalent variable thermal resistance of the TEC can be dynamically adjusted under different TEC currents, thereby realizing the equivalent thermal resistance value of TECs change on the heat dissipation path of different chips and the precise temperature control and continuity at desired temperature range. A simplified thermal resistance network of multi-chip is established to illustrate the dynamic control mechanism of multi-chip temperature uniformity based on the variable thermal resistance. Not only the heat dissipation and temperature control of single chip under different operating conditions (TEC current, flow rate, and heat flux), but also the temperature uniformity control of multi-chip is studied. The combined cooling scheme is compared and analyzed with the microchannel cooling. The results show that this combined cooling scheme can achieve precise temperature control of multiple chips with maximum temperature difference less than 0.3 °C and temperature standard deviation less than 0.07 °C, which is far less than the maximum temperature difference of 7.89 °C and temperature standard deviation of 3.55 °C when the heat flux is 50 W/cm2. This represents a feasible solution for the realization of precise temperature uniformity and dynamic temperature control in multi-chip devices.