Thermal design for minimizing interface in a multi-site thermal contact condition
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorRam S. Viswanath
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic assembly that may include an integrated circuit package that is mounted to a substrate. The assembly may have a thermally conductive phase change material that couples the integrated circuit package to a thermal element. The phase change material may be assembled in a liquid phase to fill any gap between the package and the thermal element. The phase change material may exist in a solid phase during normal operation of the assembly so that the material does not bleed from the package/thermal element interface.
Claims17
An electronic assembly, comprising:
- a substrate;
- an integrated circuit package mounted to said substrate;
- a thermal element coupled to said integrated circuit package;
- and,
- a thermally conductive phase change material that couples said integrated circuit package to said thermal element.
An electronic assembly, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a first integrated circuit package mounted to said substrate;
- a second integrated circuit package mounted to said substrate;
- a thermal element that is separated from said first integrated circuit package by a first distance and from said second integrated circuit package by a second distance which is greater than the first distance;
- a first thermally conductive phase change pad that couples said first integrated circuit package to said thermal element;
- and,
- a second thermally conductive phase change pad that couples said second integrated circuit package to said thermal element.
A method for assembling an electronic assembly, comprising:
- assembling a thermally conductive phase change material between an integrated circuit package and a thermal element;
- heating the thermally conductive phase change material to change from a solid state to a liquid state;
- and,
- cooling the thermally conductive phase change material to change from the liquid state to the solid state.
A method for assembling an electronic assembly, comprising:
- placing a thermally conductive phase change material onto an integrated circuit package;
- heating the thermally conductive phase change material to change from a solid state to a liquid state;
- placing a thermal element onto the thermally conductive phase change material;
- and,
- cooling the thermally conductive phase change material to change from the liquid state to the solid state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.