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Cooling Methods for Power Semiconductor Devices

by Tursky

Cooling methods can be classif ied according to the mechanism or medium used to transf er the heat during the
cooling process. A commonly used method of cooling power semiconductors is air cooling, which includes
natural air cooling and f orced air cooling. Another type of cooling is liquid cooling. Liquid cooling is of ten
accomplished by use of water or a water/glycol mixture to perf orm thermosyphon cooling or f orced cooling.
Other agents can also be used f or liquid cooling such as oil and several other inert f luids. Cooling can also be
achieved by taking advantage of the heat transf er that occurs when materials experience phase transitions.

Air Cooling

Air is not an outstanding thermal conductor (air has a thermal conductivity of 0.026 W/mK). T here are however
advantages in using air as a cooling agent which include its universal availability, its ability to insulate, as well
as its non-corrosive nature.

Nat ural Air Cooling

Figure 1. Natural air cooling

It is common knowledge that air rises as it is heated

due to its resulting decrease in density (convection).
T he air f low resulting f rom this convection process is
ref erred to as laminar f low. T his process provides a
natural means of removing heat generated by power
electonics components.

Advantages of applying natural air cooling include low

to no maintenance requirements, no resulting wear and
tear, and no noise emission during application. T he most prevalent disadvantage of using natural air cooling is
that it results in very low levels of cooling.
Forced Air Cooling

Air blowers/f ans are used in f orced air cooling in order to increase the air velocity. T his increased velocity aims
to produce turbulent air f low rather than a laminar f low, ef f ectively increasing heat disipation to the
surrounding atmosphere.

T he advantage of using f orced air is that it has a f ar better cooling ef f ect than natural air cooling.
Disadvantages include the incredibly high amount of noise produced during application as well as resulting
wear and tear.

Axial f anning and radial f anning are two types of f orced cooling named and classif ied according to how the f an
is mounted in relation to the device to be cooled.

Figure 2. Forced cooling using an axial fan

Figure 3. Forced air cooling using a radial fan

In the examples above, the insulated structure of the modules makes it possible to connect all the
semiconductors to the same heat sink. T his results in a clear structure with simple bus-bars.

Liquid Cooling

A more ef f ective method of cooling than air cooling is liquid cooling, which normally involves water or a
water/glycol mixture as the heat transf ering medium.

Turbulent Flow t o Improve Thermal Ef f iciency

One way of increasing the thermal ef f iciency of a water cooling system is is by placing coils inside the cooling
channel to induce a turbulant f low of the cooling liquid.

Figure 4. Use of coils in liquid cooling system

T he turbulent f low created by the coils can increase the thermal ef f iciency of the cooling system by 15 - 20%.

Turbulent f low can also be created by the presence of microchannels in the cooling channel.

Figure 5. Use of microchannels in liquid cooling system

A disadvantage of this method is the high risk of channel blockage by particles in the cooling liquid.

Thermosyphon Cooling

In thermosyphon cooling, the transf er of heat is accomplished by the natural convection of water due to
gravity. T his results f rom the f act that heated water is less dense than the cooler water and theref ore rises to
the top of the cooling system causing natural circulation of the cooling liquid.
Figure 6. Thermosyphon cooling system

Advantages of using thermosyphon cooling is that a minimum amount of maintenance is required, no wear and
tear is caused, and the cooling process produces no noise. T he main disadvantages of this method is that the
system must always be positioned in a vertical direction and requires a large amount of space.

Phase Transit ion Cooling

T he enthalpy of vaporization is the amount of heat that must be absorbed by a given quantity of liquid in order
to transition to the gas state. T he opposite of this is ref erred to as enthalpy of condensation. T he same
amount of heat is used up or dissipated in each process respectively.

T he cooling f luid evaporates at the location of the heat source. T he vapor carries the heat to a condensor
(which acts as a heat exchanger), where the f luid is then condensed back to its liquid f orm. T he enthalpy of
vaporisation of cooling liquids is high (>2000 kJ/kg).

Examples of application of this method of cooling include pool boiling, heat pipes, spray cooling, jet
impingement cooling and vibration induced droplet atomisation (VIDA).

Pool Boiling

In pool boiling, the cooling medium evaporates at the heat source, gas bubbles rise and condense on the
cooler upper surf ace.

Figure 7. Pool Boiling

At high heat stream density, a layer of vapor might build up at

the heat source. T his reduces or prevents contact between the
heat source and the cooling f luid which inevitably leads to a
great reduction in cooling. T his is ref erred to as the
Leidenf rost ef f ect.

Heat pipes

A very usef ul method of transf ering heat away f rom

semiconductor devices is the use of heat pipes. Heat pipes
also rely on natural f orces to transf er heat. Heat pipes are
made of hermetically sealed copper f illed up with a small
amount of f luid under low pressure. T he inner part of the heat
pipe is lined with a capillary-structured wick.

Figure 8. Liquid cooling with heat pipes

T he cooling liquid is evaporated by the heat source at one end of the heat pipe. T he vapor is transf erred to
the opposite end by convection where cooling f ins are located. T he vapor cools and condenses into liquid
f orm and is carried back to the heat source through the capillary wick structure along the perimeter of the heat
pipe.

To f orm the capillary structure of the heat pipe, a porous material is applied on the inner wall of the pipe. T his
can be done using either metal f oams (such as steel, aluminium, copper or nickel) or using carbon f ibres.
Methods of creating the capillary structure include:

Using sintered powder (sintered wick) - of f ers the greatest cooling ef f ect
Increasing the surf ace of the inner wall (grooved tube) - very weak capillary action
Screen mesh - most of ten used .

Dif f erent heat transf er media can be used within the heat pipes. T he choice of medium depends on the
application, in particular the required temperature range. Water, f or instance, cannot be used below 0°C.
Acetone or alcohol are commonly used.

Advantages of using heat pipes include:

Extremely high heat transf er ability (100 to 1000 times higher than copper at small temperature gradients
No parts need be moved mechanically, hence requires no maintenance
Heat pipes of f er enough f lexibility to be produced in all f orms and sizes

Spray Cooling

Spray cooling and jet impingement cooling can be carried out either f rom the bottom or top or f rom both sides
of the heat source. T he cooling f luid vaporises upon coming into contact with the semiconductor chips and
condenses when it reaches the cooler areas. Fluids used f or spray cooling are mostly inert f luids such as
f luorinert or other f luorinated hydrocarbons which cover a wide boiling point range. Conductive water can only
be used when spraying on the bottom side of the module.
Figure 9. Spray cooling system

A great advantage of spray cooling is the f act that, upon spraying, the cooling f luid vaporizes directly on the
chip. T his leads to f aster heat transf er. A big disadvantage, on the other hand, is the less than optimal thermal
characteristics of the inert f luids. As an example, table one below shows a comparison of the thermal
characteristics of f luorinert and water.

Comparison Fluorinert (FC - 72) Water

Latent heat of vaporisation 88 kJ/kg 2250 kJ/kg

Heat capacity 1.05 kJ/kg.K 4.18 kJ/kg.K

Table 1. Comparison of Thermal Characteristics of Fluorinert and Water

Another disadvantage of spray cooling is high technical complexity. An large amount of equipment including
pumps, spray pipes, condensors, storing tanks, microf ilters, and a closed pressure system are required in
order to carry out spray cooling. T he process also requires very high pressures ranging f rom 3 bar to 15 bar.
Wire bonds on the chip are also always in the way of the sprayed f luid, hindering optimum cooling of the chip.
Also, due to their small diameter, there is always a chance that the spray pipes might become clogged.
Cavitation of the pressure pump is also quite likely to occur.

Vibrat ion Induced Droplet At omizat ion (VIDA)

Figure 10. Vibration Induced Droplet Atomisation (VIDA)

In vibration induced droplet atomization, the vibration of

a Piezo membrane atomizes the cooling f luid. T his
atomized f luid then vaporizes at the hot areas under
the chip. T he vapor transf ers the heat to the cooler
walls of the cell where the f luid condenses and f lows
back to the Piezo membrane. A great advantage of VIDA
is the high degree of cooling it provides and its very
simple structure. On the other hand, VIDA is highly
dependent on positioning.

Thermal-Acoust ic Cooling

T hermal-Acoustic cooling is based on the principle of a Stirling machine that uses a loud speaker as a drive.
T he working medium is usually an environmental f riendly rare gas such as Helium or Argon. T his heat pump is
powered by very high acoustic pressure caused by resonant vibrations of the gas in the inner and outer board.
Two cooling circuits (hot and cold) f or heat transf er are required to complete the system. T he advantage of
using thermal-acoustic cooling is that there are no moving parts. T hermal-acoustic cooling however has lower
than desirable ef f ectiveness.

Cooling using t he Pelt ier Ef f ect

In this process, current f lows through the connecting point between two dif f erent kinds of conductors (metal
or semiconductors such as Bismuth Telluride Bi2Te3 ). T his has either a heating or cooling ef f ect depending on
current f low direction (reversed Seebeck ef f ect). Heat transf er occurs via electrons in n-semiconductors and
via holes in p-semiconductors.

No noise is produced while cooling using the Peltier ef f ect and the equipment used in this method requires no
maintenance. Cooling using the Peltier ef f ect, however, has very low cooling ef f ect.

In conclusion, adequate cooling plays an important role in the reliability of power semiconductors and their
lif etime. Choice of material as well as the structure of semiconductors determines the level of thermal
resistance of any given semiconductor device. A wide range of processes with very dif f erent levels of
ef f ectiveness can be used f or heat transf er in semiconductors.

For more information, please read:

Heat Transf er in Power Semiconductor Devices

Cooling Low Power Components

Heat Dissipation Using Cooling Plates

Heat Dissipation and Cooling f or Aluminum Capacitors

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