Electroosmotic microchannel cooling system

A thermal transfer apparatus connected to a semiconductor heat emitting device, the thermal transfer apparatus operating using a fluid having a liquid phase comprising:

• a substrate adapted to physically connect to the semiconductor heat emitting device;
• first and second microchannel fluid inlets disposed in the substrate;
• first and second microchannel fluid outlets disposed in the substrate;
• and
• first and second microchannels connected between the respective first and second fluid inlets and the first and second fluid outlets, the first and second microchannels thereby providing independent fluid flow paths.

A thermal transfer apparatus that operates using a fluid having a liquid phase comprising:

• a semiconductor heat emitting device, the semiconductor heat emitting device including a thermal control circuit:
• a substrate adapted to physically connect to the semiconductor heat emitting device;
• first and second microchannel fluid inlets disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device;
• first and second microchannel fluid outlets disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device;
• first and second microchannels disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device connected between the respective first and second microchannel fluid inlets and the first and second fluid microchannel outlets, the first and second microchannels thereby providing independent fluid flow paths;
• and
• first and second temperature sensors disposed within the substrate and electrically connected to the thermal control circuit so that the signals from the first and second temperature sensors are input to the control circuit.

An electroosmotic pump that pumps a fluid having a liquid phase upon application of a voltage comprising:

• a fluid chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
• an anode disposed within an anode chamber portion;
• a cathode disposed within a cathode chamber portion;
• a porous structure that provides electroosmotic pumping upon application of the voltage between the anode and the cathode, the porous structure creating a partition in the fluid chamber between the anode chamber portion and the cathode chamber portion;
• and
• a catalytic recombiner integrated with the fluid chamber.

A method of placing a microchannel in a substrate so that the microchannel can transfer fluid having a liquid phase therethrough and dissipate thermal energy in a particular integrated circuit chip comprising the steps of:

• selecting the particular integrated circuit chip:
• using a computer, predicting locations and cross sectional shapes of the microchannel in the substrate that will sufficiently dissipate thermal energy with the fluid flowing therethrough, the step of predicting locations and cross sectional shapes of the microchannel including the step of iteratively computing fluid and solid temperature and pressure distributions for iteratively determined potential locations and potential cross sectional shapes of the microchannel in the substrate;
• and
• creating the microchannel at the predicted microchannel locations with the predicted cross sectional shapes in the substrate.

An electroosmotic pump that pumps a fluid having a liquid phase upon application of a voltage comprising:

• a fluid chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
• an anode disposed within an anode chamber portion;
• first and second cathodes disposed within respective first and second cathode chamber portions;
• and
• first and second porous structures that provide electroosmotic pumping upon application of the voltage between the anode and the first and second cathodes, each of the first and second porous structures creating a partition in the fluid chamber between the anode chamber portion and the respective cathode chamber portions.

A cooling system for a heat emitting device, the cooling system operating using a fluid having a liquid phase, the cooling system comprising:

• a substrate including at least a portion of a microchannel disposed therein, the substrate adapted to physically connect to the heat emitting device, thereby providing for the transfer of thermal energy from the heat emitting device to the substrate, and the further transfer of thermal energy from the substrate to the fluid disposed within the microchannel, the microchannel configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough;
• a heat exchanger configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough and the transfer of thermal energy from the heat exchanger;
• an electroosmotic pump, the electroosmotic pump creating the flow of the fluid;
• and
• wherein the substrate, the heat exchanger, and the electroosmotic pump are configured to operate together using an open loop fluid flow.

A method or providing for heat transfer away from a heat emitting device comprising:

• using an electroosmotic pump to create a flow of a fluid having a liquid phase;
• directing the fluid flow to pass through a microchannel in a substrate with the substrate physically connected to the heat emitting device to thereby create a heated fluid;
• and
• further directing the heated fluid to pass through a heat exchanger to thereby create a cooled fluid;
• and
• causing the steps of using, directing and further directing to operate to create a closed loop fluid flow.