In recent years, the semiconductor industry has taken advantage of the fact that CMOS circuits dissipate less power than bipolar circuits. This has permitted more dense packaging and correspondingly, faster CMOS circuits. However, almost no matter how fast one wishes to run a given electronic circuit chip, there is always the possibility of running it faster if the chip is cooled to lower temperatures during operation. This is particularly true of computer processor chips and even more true of these chips when they are disposed within multichip modules (MCMs), which generate significant amounts of heat. Because there is great demand to run processor modules at higher speeds, the corresponding clock frequencies at which these devices must operate become higher. In this regard, it should be noted that it is known that power generation rises in direct proportion to the clock frequency. Accordingly, the desire for faster computers generates not only demand for computer systems but generates thermal demand in terms of energy which must be removed for faster, safer and more reliable circuit operation. In this regard, it is to be particularly noted that, in the long run, thermal energy is the single biggest impediment to semiconductor operation integrity.
Multichannel heat sinks have been developed for extraction of heat generated by, for example, integrated electronic circuits, multi-chip modules, diode laser arrays, or other electro-optic devices under conditions of high heat flux density. Coolant flow in the channels is conventionally unidirectional, i.e., the coolant enters the heat sink through an inlet at one end and flows through parallel channels to an outlet at the other end.
An enhanced heat sink is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,910, entitled "Microchannel Heat Sink With Alternating Flow Directions," the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Briefly summarized, this patent presents a heat sink wherein temperature rise along multiple parallel channels is addressed by providing alternating coolant flow directions through the channels of the heat sink. Although improving heat surface temperature distribution over the uniform flow direction approach, further enhancements are believed desirable to more closely achieve the goal of a truly isothermal heat sink for an electronic device.