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NeoGene unlocks direct-to-silicon liquid cooling technology by novel IC package approach

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Credit: DIGITIMES

NeoGene Tech, a Guangzhou-based Taiwanese thermal management solution provider, has in Q3 2022 supported Xiaomi to successfully launch its flagship 5G smartphone, Xiaomi 12S Ultra, with excellent thermal dissipation performance. NeoGene Tech's proprietary ultra-thin, two-phase-flow-circulation MagicWick-Inside vapor chamber technology was adopted by Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

Just half year later, NeoGene Tech is now unlocking another breakthrough in direct-to-silicon cooling technology to solve the growing ultra-high-power-density semiconductor heat dissipation issues for data centers and cloud computing. The key to such technology is to use both internal and external cooling circulation systems to work together in a single IC package. The silicon chip and PGA substrate are integrated into a high efficiency liquid cooled package module to form a complete IC device.

NeoGene Tech tries to redefine high-power IC components, making the IC not only a semiconductor, but also a cooling packed thermal management device. Its core technology adopts a proprietary three-dimensional vapor chamber device with excellent wick structuring and very high efficiency two phase flow circulation. The company named it "NeoGene Cooling Engine." Since pure water has a very high latent heat acting as a working fluid in a vapor chamber, the high-density heat generated by a semiconductor can be dissipated very quickly through the evaporation process at the touched evaporator area, once the design of the wick structure and residual water inside the 3D vapor chamber are optimized.

"In our IC package approach, the high-power density silicon chip directly contacts the evaporator area of the 3D vapor chamber located outside the heat exchanging chamber. The column shape condenser and the coupled dissipation fins are accommodated inside the heat exchanging chamber that can be filled with a circulating coolant liquid. The heat generated by silicon chip will be efficiently carried away by the circulating liquid accordingly. We call this technology '3D VC Embedded Liquid Cooling,' according to Jeffrey Chen, CEO of NeoGene Tech.

By leveraging NeoGene Cooling Engine technology, NeoGene Tech is not only proposing a new approach to IC packaging, but also offering a variety of product solutions for different application scenarios at data centers. "Based on NeoGene Cooling Engine, we plan to provide three types of liquid cooling solutions. First is the NeoGene Liquid Cooler which will be used for packaged IC heat dissipation at 1 U configuration. The second is the Direct-to-Silicon Cooling Package Module, which can be adopted by IC Brands at the packaging level. We will also offer NeoGene Immersion Dissipator, which can be used for immersion cooling auxiliary schemes" said Jeffrey Chen.

According to Jeffrey Chen, NeoGene Tech's patented 3D VC embedded liquid cooling technology can not only be widely used for cooling servers in data centers and cloud computing, but also used in cooling IGBT and ADAS modules in electric vehicles. For different application scenarios, the flexible modular design of the cooling engine can meet any power consumption requirements of Multi-Chips-Module (MCM). Combining efficient two-phase flow circulation with liquid flow circulation, ultra-high power density heat can be effectively carried away. The installation is also very simple and cost-effective in different application scenarios.

Theoretically, the energy required to evaporate 1g of pure water under the saturated vapor pressure of 40° C is 2405.94 joules, which is equivalent to the heat generated by a 2.4KW semiconductor chip within a second. By properly using the NeoGene Cooling Engine and the liquid cooling circulation technology, once the two-phase flow circulation speed in the NeoGene Cooling Engine is fast enough and the water in the wick structure is replenished in time, even if the TDP of the semiconductor is greater than 1000W, the heat dissipation problem can be effectively solved.

The market size of liquid cooling in data centers globally data is estimated to be 1.82 billion US dollars in 2021, and will reach 7.12 billion US dollars by 2028. During the forecast period, it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21.5%, according to market research reports.

NeoGene unlocks direct-to-silicon liquid cooling technology by novel IC package approach

NeoGene unlocks direct-to-silicon liquid cooling technology by novel IC package approach