I-Corps: Translation Potential of Direct-to-Chip Evaporative Cooling Technology

This I-Corps project addresses the critical thermal challenges in data centers. Data centers house thousands of computer servers and electronic components that generate significant heat. Data centers currently consume vast amounts of energy and water for cooling, which is essential to prevent overheating, maintain performance, and ensure reliability. The increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing is driving the development of more powerful logic chips and the expansion of data centers worldwide. However, these advancements result in generating even more heat, which must be effectively managed to ensure optimal performance. This technology, a direct-to-chip, two-phase, liquid cooling technology, could enhance the cooling efficiency of high-powered chips, potentially reducing the energy consumption of data centers. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a novel, direct-to-chip, two phase, evaporative cooling system for thermal management of high-powered logic and power electronic semiconductors. A cold plate, placed directly on the chip, routes and creates microdroplets on top of a set of micropillars. These microdroplets evaporate in response to heat from the chip, dissipating heat in the system. Compared to state-of-the-art direct to chip single- and two-phase liquid cooling technologies, this two-phase evaporative cooling module operates under a significantly lower coolant pumping power, potentially reducing the energy consumption of data centers. A coolant flow loop and flow control algorithm are also implemented to harness the maximum benefit of the direct-to-chip evaporative cooling technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.