Intel Develops Micro-Refrigerator To Cool Chips

Spacedonkey writes "Researchers at Intel, RTI International of North Carolina, and Arizona State University have made ultra-thin 'micro-refrigerators' for computer chips. The device uses a thermoelectric cooler made from nanostructured thin-film superlattice that can reduce the temperature by 55C when a current passes through it. In testing, it reduced the temperature on part of a chip by 15C without impairing its performance. The researchers say the component could be particularly useful for cooling hot spots that frequently occur on multi-core chips."

Comments

Pelletier effect?

[Fastfwd]

Is this the same as a pelletier effect? I hate fans and definitely would pay a premium to get rid of them.

Re:Pelletier effect?

[jhfry]

Imagine this...

circuit operates at 3GHz at 20C or at 4GHz at 10C. So you say, lets cool it then!

Well if you couple chip to copper heatsink and fan, you can't possibly drop temps to sub-ambient temps.

However, with a cooler, you can... so long as you can dump the extra heat fast enough.

The biggest reason peltier coolers are rarely used is that they tend to cause condensation, and they acutally generate additional heat, requiring even more cooling.

However, if you could create a small one, that was within the housing, cooled only the necessary areas, and didn't need to be sealed from the humidity... it would be this.