Diamond heat spreading and cooling technique for integrated circuits
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsMichael O'Connor, Kevin J. Haley, Biswajit Sur
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor chip is shown containing an integral heat spreading layer that more effectively transmits heat from the die to ambient as a result of spreading the heat out on the die over a larger cross sectional area. Local hot spots are minimized which allows the semiconductor chip to operate at a higher frequency for a given upper threshold temperature. Also shown is a method of manufacturing such a semiconductor chip, and the associated method of cooling a semiconductor chip.
Claims27
A method of cooling a semiconductor chip, comprising:
- providing a number of electrical devices on a semiconductor layer of the semiconductor chip;
- integrally forming a substantially planar heat conducting layer with the semiconductor layer, wherein the heat conducting layer is compatible with semiconductor processing techniques, the heat conducting layer being adjacent to the number of electrical devices, the heat conducting layer having a higher thermal conductivity than the semiconductor layer;
- conducting heat generated by the number of electrical devices into the heat conducting layer;
- and
- transmitting the heat generated by the number of electrical devices through the heat conducting layer from a first region having a first temperature to a second region having a second temperature that is lower than the first region.
A method of cooling a semiconductor chip formed from a semiconducting material, comprising:
- integrally coupling a substantially planar heat conducting layer to the semiconductor chip, wherein the heat conducting layer is compatible with semiconductor processing techniques, the heat conducting layer having a higher thermal conductivity than the semiconducting material;
- conducting heat from the semiconductor chip into the heat conducting layer;
- and
- transmitting the heat through the heat conducting layer from a first region having a first temperature to a second region having a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature.
A method of cooling a semiconductor chip, comprising:
- integrally forming a diamond containing layer adjacent to a number of electrical devices on a semiconductor layer;
- conducting heat generated by at least a portion of the number of electrical devices in a first area into the heat conducting layer;
- and
- spreading the heat generated by the electrical devices in the first area through the heat conducting layer to a larger second area wherein heat per unit area is reduced.
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor chip, comprising:
- fabricating a semiconductor layer;
- forming a number of electrical devices on the semiconductor layer;
- electrically connecting the number of electrical devices;
- and
- integrally forming a substantially planar heat conducting layer operatively connected to the semiconductor layer, wherein the heat conducting layer is compatible with semiconductor processing techniques, the heat conducting layer being adjacent to the number of electrical devices, the heat conducting layer having a higher thermal conductivity than the semiconductor layer.
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor chip, comprising:
- forming a number of transistors on a semiconductor layer;
- electrically connecting the number of transistors;
- and
- integrally forming a substantially planar diamond containing layer operatively connected to the semiconductor layer, and adjacent to the number of transistors.
A method of forming an electronic system, comprising:
- forming a processor chip, including:
- forming a number of transistors on a semiconductor layer;
- electrically connecting the number of transistors;
- integrally forming a substantially planar diamond containing layer operatively connected to the semiconductor layer, and adjacent to the number of transistors;
- and
- coupling the processor chip to a random access memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.