Liquid-Cooled Power Overlay Assembly With Dual-Sided Impingement Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power electronics devices with wire or ribbon bonding restrict heat extraction and allow only two-dimensional cooling, leading to inefficient thermal performance due to additional thermal resistances and lower cooling fluid performance, especially with insulating fluids like oil compared to non-insulative fluids like water.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-cooled assembly with impingement sprayers on both sides of power overlay (POL) tiles within a housing, allowing direct liquid impingement cooling, which enhances heat extraction and thermal performance by using a wirebondless configuration and non-insulating fluids like water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wire or ribbon bonding is used for connecting power electronics components, then electrical connectivity is achieved, but thermal resistance increases and heat extraction efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the wire or ribbon bonding layer entirely, extracting the thermal resistance barrier that prevented efficient heat extraction. By transitioning to a wirebondless configuration where power electronics components are directly bonded to the substrate, the thermal pathway is directly exposed to the cooling fluid, eliminating the intermediate thermal barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a direct bonding interface as an intermediary between the power electronics component and the cooling fluid, replacing the wire bonding intermediary that caused thermal resistance. This direct bond allows the cooling fluid to access the backside of the component for efficient heat extraction.
2Device complexity
If conventional two-dimensional cooling methods are used, then cooling fluid flow is simple, but thermal performance is insufficient due to limited cooling surface area
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from two-dimensional cooling (cooling only the top surface through the bonding layer) to three-dimensional cooling by accessing the backside of the power electronics component. The cooling fluid flows through channels formed by the raised features on the substrate, enabling cooling from multiple surfaces including the previously inaccessible backside of the component.
3Reliability
If insulating cooling fluids like oil are used, then electrical insulation is provided, but cooling performance and heat extraction efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the wire bonding layer that created thermal resistance, allowing direct contact between the cooling fluid and the power electronics component. This enables the use of highly conductive cooling fluids like water without electrical insulation concerns, as the fluid contacts only the backside of the component and the substrate features, not electrical contacts.
4Temperature
If direct liquid impingement cooling is implemented on multiple sides of components, then heat extraction efficiency improves, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the cooling channel formation with the substrate structure itself. The raised features are formed as integral parts of the substrate during manufacturing, and these same features define the cooling channels. This eliminates the need for separate cooling channel structures and simplifies the overall device complexity while enabling efficient multi-sided liquid impingement cooling.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient, compact, and high-power density cooling of power electronics by direct contact forced convection on multiple sides of the tiles, improving thermal performance and reducing cooling times compared to traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
emitting an impinging spray of the liquid coolant from the first and second impingement sprayers onto at least two opposite surfaces of the electronic component
Implementation Method 2
direct liquid impingement cooling, which enhances heat extraction and thermal performance
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for liquid cooling of an electronic component. A housing includes an insertion slot and defines at least one component chamber for carrying the electronic component. A fluid inlet and fluid outlet are provided on the housing. A liquid coolant circuit passes through the housing at least from the inlet to the outlet.