Directional thermal channeling: A phenomenon triggered by tight packing of heat sources

"A critical factor in determining the achievable speeds and efficiencies of electronic devices is the operating temperature. As modern transistors shrink in size to as small as 5 nm, optimal design for temperature control requires a predictive understanding of nanoscale heat dissipation. In this work, we establish a fundamental microscopic description for thermal transport induced by nanoscale heat sources. We uncover the underlying mechanism that drives the counterintuitive behavior discovered recently via extreme UV scatterometry that nanoscale heat sources cool faster when closely packed than when widely spaced. This finding lays the foundation for better temperature management in modern integrated circuits and future quantum devices."

P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118(40), e2109056118, 2021
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/40/e2109056118

Cool it: Nano-scale discovery could help prevent overheating in electronics | CU Boulder Today | University of Colorado Boulder

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