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US 6,686,532 B1Granted
Heat sink/heat spreader structures and methods of manufacture
OwnerChris Macrisinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heat sink/heat spreader structure utilizing thermoelectric effects to efficiently transport thermal energy from a variety of heat sources including integrated circuits and other electronic components. A method for manufacturing the heat sink/spreader is also disclosed.
Claims27
A thermoelectric heat spreader attachable to a heat sink, the spreader comprising:
- a top thermoelement that can be bonded to the heat sink;
- and a bottom thermoelement bonded to the top thermoelement at a plurality of spaced electrically conducting junctions, wherein the top thermoelement is made of a different material than the bottom thermoelement, and wherein the top and bottom thermoelements together form a thermoelectric couple.
A thermoelectric heat spreader to which an electrical potential is applied, the spreader comprising:
- a heat sink;
- a top thermoelement bonded to the heat sink;
- and
- a bottom thermoelement bonded to the top thermoelement at a plurality of spaced electrically conducting junctions, wherein the top thermoelement is made of a different material than the bottom thermoelement, and wherein the top and bottom thermoelements together form a thermoelectric couple.
1 more element
A heat sink for dissipating heat from a heat source, the heat sink comprising:
- a heat sink attachable to the heat source;
- and
- an electrical source connected to the heat sink to cause a current to flow through the heat sink, whereby the current flowing through the heat sink increases the heat dissipated by the heat sink.
A heat sink/spreader structure comprising:
- a heat sink;
- and
- a thermoelement couple, with an electric potential applied across the thermoelement couple, wherein the thermoelement couple is electrically in series with an electrical load.
A heat sink/spreader structure comprising:
- an electrically conductive heat sink;
- and
- a dissimilar thermoelement electrically bonded to the heat sink forming a thermoelectric couple wherein the dissimilar thermoelement material comprises a plurality of conducting or semiconducting layers separated by dielectric layers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.