Management optimization of temperature and pressure drop inside multi-core 3D integrated circuits with microchannels

The introduction of three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) technology is expected to break the limitations of Moore’s law. In response to the increasingly severe thermal management problem of multi-core 3D ICs, this paper developed a 3D IC model with double-layers and microchannels to analyze the temperature and pressure drop distribution inside the model. The effects of micro-pin fin arrangement, upper microchannel structure, coolant flow direction, and different regions on the cooling performance of the model were studied. The results show that compared to in-lined and staggered arrangement of the same proportion, the non-same proportion in-lined and staggered arrangement proposed in this paper can reduce the pressure drop by at least 31 % without increasing the maximum processor temperature. For the three structures of cuboid, cuboid (in-lined), and cylinder (in-lined), the use of cylinder (in-lined) structure in the upper microchannel can achieve better cooling performance. For counter flow and parallel flow, using counter flow can lower the maximum temperature and pressure drop; using parallel flow can reduce the average temperature and temperature gradient. In addition, compared with increasing Reynolds number of the upper microchannel, increasing Reynolds number of the bottom microchannel can achieve lower maximum temperature and pressure drop.