Study of Miniaturization of a Silicon Vapor Chamber for Compact 3D Microelectronics, via a Hybrid Analytical and Finite Element Method

Abstract

The interest in silicon vapor chambers (SVCs) has increased in the recent years as they have been identified as efficient cooling systems for microelectronics. They present the advantage of higher thermal conductivity and smaller form factor compared to conventional heat spreaders. This work aims to investigate the potential miniaturization of these devices, preliminary to integration on the backside of mobile device chips, located as close as possible to hotspots. While detailed numerical models of vapor chamber operation are developed, an easy modeling with low computational cost is needed for an effective parametric study. Based on the study of the operating limits, this paper shows the thinning potential of a water filled micropillar for a device operating below 10 W and identify the corresponding vapour core height, and wick thickness.