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Wriggling Heat Sinks

Posted by chrisd on from the wow-that-is-just-so-cool dept.

YourHero writes "Purdue researchers have come up with a new way to cool chips, in about 2 years. Just build a bunch of little piezoelectric fans (the waving kind, not the spinning kind). Since they don't spin, no bearings, less self-generated heat. Since they don't have magnets, no electromagnetic noise problems. And, of course, super-efficient. A press release and abstract for your reading pleasure. Formal presentation at THERMES 2002 Jan 15th."

1 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Answer: what is piezoelectric? by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 5, Informative
    For those who are unaware, piezoelectric crystals are items that will change shape under the application of an electric field and/or generate a potential difference (i.e. a voltage) when squeezed.

    They're used in inkjet printers - they're in ink some cartridge when an electric field is applied to them and they change shape, forcing the ink out of the I also hear the they used them in the ipod for some sort of playlist control mechanism.