New Technique Cools High-Performance Chips From the Inside Out

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a liquid-cooling technology that carves microscopic channels directly into silicon semiconductor chips. This internal cooling method uses room-temperature water to significantly reduce the energy required for thermal management compared to traditional external cooling systems. The breakthrough addresses the growing energy crisis in data centers and high-performance AI computing by overcoming the physical limits of air fans and external heat spreaders.

Led by Professor Sung Jin Kim, the KAIST team created a "manifold microchannel" structure embedded within the silicon to mimic an efficient logistics network. Unlike standard liquid cooling that relies on external cold plates and heavy-duty pumps, this decentralized design uses multiple inlets and outlets to shorten fluid travel distance and lower flow resistance. By utilizing a multi-fidelity optimization framework and 1D computational models, the researchers achieved a perfectly uniform flow that drastically reduces the pumping pressure needed to maintain stable temperatures.

The experimental results demonstrate a cooling Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 106,000, which is ten times higher than the previous world record established in 2020. This efficiency means that chip manufacturers can remove the same amount of heat using only one-tenth of the pumping power previously required. Even when subjected to an extreme thermal load of 2,000 watts per square centimeter, the internal water-cooling system successfully kept the processor temperatures below 100°C (212°F), proving its viability for next-generation high-density electronics.

A critical advantage for the semiconductor industry is that this technique is compatible with existing commercial manufacturing lines. The fabrication process occurs at temperatures below 350°C (662°F) and uses ordinary water rather than expensive synthetic materials, allowing foundries to integrate the plumbing technique without massive capital expenditures for new machinery. As AI semiconductors and advanced packaging face increasing thermal bottlenecks, this internal cooling solution offers a scalable path for future high-performance computing systems and data center efficiency.