Additive Laser Metal Deposition Onto Silicon for Enhanced Microelectronics Cooling

We previously demonstrated how the Sn3Ag4Ti alloy can robustly bond onto silicon via selective laser melting (SLM). By employing this technology, thermal management devices (e.g., micro-channels, vapor chamber evaporators, heat pipes) can be directly printed onto the electronic package (silicon die) without using thermal interface materials. Under immersion two-phase cooling (pool boiling), we compare the performance of three chip cooling methods (conventional heat sink, bare silicon die and additively manufactured metal micro-fins) under high heat flux conditions (100 W/cm^2). Heat transfer simulations show a significant reduction in the chip temperature for the silicon micro-fins. Reduction of the chip operating temperature or increase in clock speed are some of the advantages of this technology, which results from the elimination of thermal interface materials in the electronic package. Performance and reliability aspects of this technology are discussed through experiments and computational models.