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Article

Title: IBM's Zurich Lab Shows New Way to Cool Chips

Author: Bulkeley, William M Article Type: Product Analysis
Source: Wall Street Journal, v251 n131 pB7(1) Publication Date: Jun 5, 2008
  ISSN: 0193-2241
URL of Publication: http://www.wsj.com

The Zurich, Switzerland-based laboratories of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) developed a method for cooling microprocessor chips that involves piping water through hair-thin channels. The novel process could open the door to faster, higher-performance computing that uses stacked microchips. The three-dimensional configuration could lessen electrons travel time to just 1/1000th of the distance they travel in side-by-side chips, but the structure would create too much heat to make it viable. Instead, IBM researched a method that insulates water to prevent its interference with the electrical signals, mimicking the brain where you mix electrical signals from the neurons with blood vessels that provide cooling and oxygen, according to project leader Thomas Brunschwiler. He anticipates that stacked ships will appear in high-performance computers for scientific applications in five to 10 years. Professor Yogenda Joshi of the Georgia Institute of Technology said the process has also brought the commercial implementation of stacked chips closer to reality, and that it will eventually see wide use in corporate data centers. The team tested several liquids for the cooling process, but found water flowed easiest and did not introduce environmental problems.

Companies:
IBM Corp

Products:
HPC (High Performance Computing) Innovation

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