A novel thermal management scheme of 3D-IC based on loop heat pipe

Three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D-IC) technology, which involves the vertical integration of multiple chips, has effectively reduced the size of electronic devices and mitigated chip interconnection delays. However, the high integration of 3D-IC brings serious thermal management challenges, especially the heat dissipation of middle-layer or bottom-layer chips. In this study, a 3D-IC thermal management scheme named SLHP based on loop heat pipe is proposed. An SLHP featuring micropillar arrays wick is designed and manufactured, and the feasibility of the SLHP for 3D-IC thermal management is verified through visual experiment, and the influence of changing the location of hotspots and introducing a composite wick on improving the performance of the SLHP is explored. The results indicate that the SLHP operates effectively, demonstrating the capability to adapt to abrupt changes in heat flux. Moreover, the micropillar arrays wick not only provides powerful capillary force, but also larger heat exchange area in limited space. Thoughtful placement of hotspots is profitable to supply liquid fluid and minimize heat leakage from evaporator to compensation chamber. Most significantly, the thermal conductivity of composite wick SLHP reaches 852.1 W/(m·K), surpassing the 810.0 W/(m·K) achieved by the single-size wick SLHP.