A microjet array cooling for the thermal management of active radar systems

Abstract

Next-generation active radar systems are employing high power density, high temperature electronic devices such as those based on wide bandgap GaN semiconductors, requiring more advanced thermal management technology that is capable of providing higher heat dissipation and a more accurate temperature control. An innovative microjet cooling concept, bottom-side microjet array cooling (BSMAC), is proposed to cope with the demanding thermal management imposed by active radar systems. Compared with current or other emerging cooling techniques, the BSMAC has the advantages including high thermal performance, low cost and easiness to be incorporated into the currently used package structure and processing. A numerical simulation is conducted to investigate the thermal performance of the BSMAC. For the numerical study, a commercial code, FLUNET, is used to model a 3D chip array package structure with a BSMAC heatsink. The convection heat transfer is analyzed and some influential parameters are evaluated. The numerical results demonstrate the superior thermal performance of the BSMAC heatsink that is able to dissipate high heat power with a uniform temperature distribution among chips.