Thermal Management for High Reliability Electronic Systems

Thermal Management for High Reliability Electronic Systems

Instructor: David Saums

Description: Semiconductor and electrical components of all types generate and must dissipate heat. Practical understanding of objectives of thermal management as a key component of system design for reliability is critical, for thermal and electrical engineers alike. This course is intended to give both a practical understanding of a range of different and critical thermal management topics and trends, but to also give up-to-date understanding of:

• New thermal materials developments; thermal materials categories, testing and characterization, and selection of thermal materials;
• Thermal management challenges current and forward-looking;
• Semiconductor trends and impact on thermal management;
• Thermal management technologies, from phase-change energy storage to vapor chambers and liquid immersion and pumped two-phase liquid cooling.

A major failure mechanism for electronic systems is inadequate heat dissipation, both from individual components and at the system level. Heat is the single largest cause of failure, with vibration and dust and other environmental factors as examples of other causes.

Specific topics included are:

• Overview: Thermal management objectives and terminology
• Thermal technologies technologies for semiconductor test
• Thermal challenges for very high performance processors*
• Thermal challenges for heterogeneous integration in multichip packaging*
• Semiconductor industry trends: SiC and GaN – and thermal impact*
• Thermal management for high temperature electronics