A team of researchers based at the of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory US Department announces the development of a new technique that will allow future microprocessors to be easily cooled using carbon nanotubes.
The technique they have developed is a simple and user-friendly process, meaning it can be easily scaled up for mass production. Carbon nanotubes were chosen in this research because they have remarkable physical and chemical properties. These tubes can be easily made by rolling up graphene.
Modern processor chips can reach extreme performance (overclocking), but at the same time generate a lot of heat. The billions of transistors that are packed into a few square centimeters can easily exceed temperatures higher than the boiling point of water when they lack adequate cooling.
At this point, cooling is usually done with a combination of thermally conductive paste, a heatsink and a fan, or in more hi-tech situations with hydraulic cooling loops that circulate water.
By using carbon nanotubes, the efficiency of future cooling systems will be much greater than what is available with today's technology.
The team led by physicist Frank Ogletree, found a way to use organic molecules as linkers to connect carbon nanotubes to the metallic surfaces of microprocessors, with very flexible homopolymeric bonds.
Heat flow from the microprocessors that were tested improved by 600% (!!!) with the nanowires, the team reports. The attachment of the tubes to the metal surfaces is done via gas vapors or chemical liquids at low temperature, which means chip manufacturers can easily adapt them to their production line.
Details of the new technique appear in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.
