We have been saying for some time that cooling chips is becoming more and more complicated, because they have an ever-increasing density of transistors and that increases the heat density, so dissipation is starting to be a rather complicated issue. However, xMEMS Labs has just presented a technology that, in essence and so that we understand each other, is capable of introducing fans extremely small directly on the chipsimproving cooling by many points. Let’s take a look at them because, honestly, they look amazing and could help a lot to solve the temperature problems in the chips we currently have.
Technology has a name xMEMS XMC-2400 µCoolingand the manufacturer defines it as the first chip with an active micro fan. According to them, it is designed for portable devices and for solutions aimed at Artificial Intelligence, but as we said before, the concept can go much further and provide an effective solution to the temperature problems of almost any chip.
Goodbye to chip temperature problems?
For the first time, this active micro-cooling based on chip-level µCooling fans allows manufacturers to integrate active cooling into smartphones, tablets and other advanced mobile devices that generate a lot of heat but do not have the physical space to properly install a heatsink. In addition, xMEMS says that this solid-state µCooling system is absolutely silent, generates no vibrations and measures just 1 mm thick.
The first chip to implement this technology is the XMC-2400, which measures just 9.26 x 7.6 x 1.08 millimeters and weighs less than 150 milligrams (making it 96 percent smaller and lighter than current active cooling alternatives). A single XMC-2400 chip can move up to 39 cubic centimeters of air per second with 1,000 Pa of back pressure. Plus, because this cooling solution is integrated into the silicon, it’s a completely compact system, highly robust, and also IP58-rated against dust and water.
xMEMS µCooling is based on the same manufacturing process as its award-winning xMEMS Cypress full-range speaker for in-ear headphones, which will go into production in Q2 2025, and already has several customers, including Creative, which plans to integrate the solution into its headphones.
xMEMS plans to start making samples of this µCooling technology that integrates fans directly into chips available during the first quarter of 2025, and this means that by the end of next year we could start seeing the first commercial products to integrate this technology. And from there… who knows? There is a possibility that this technology will not be limited to just small chips for mobile phones and laptops, but will be extended to more general hardware.
Imagine an Intel or AMD processor with this technology; currently the highest-end processors get quite hot, so this could help reduce the base operating temperature, which, together with a conventional heatsink, would definitely put an end to temperature problems. Now, we have to see if it is feasible to implement it because the truth is that they have not explained how it works very well, and perhaps installing a heatsink covering the IHS of the processor would prevent this technology from working as it should. But hey, dreaming is free, right?