Gamernode: News - Solid-state fan to change how CPUs are cooled

Solid-state fan to change how CPUs are cooled

Depending on what type of fans you have installed on your PC, you either hear the whisper quiet whirr of your components spinning happily away or experience a sound coming from your PC case similar to a miniature jet turbine engine.

However, if you want complete silence for your laptop or PC, the egg heads at Thornm Micro Technologies have developed a solid state fan that has no moving parts and is only a bit bigger than a dime.

The new technology is based upon the same principle as home air purifiers, which utilize something called a corona wind effect. Fast moving ions move from conducting wires to non-conducting wires and this results in pushing air molecules along--hence a "fan" which can cool a CPU or the innards of a laptop.

Dan Schlitz and Vishal Singhal worked on the project of the RSD5 solid-state fan for six years while attending Perdue University. The two students received National Science Foundation support while doing research for their idea.

"The RSD5 is one of the most significant advancements in electronics cooling since heat pipes. It could change the cooling paradigm for mobile electronics," enthused Singhal. The new chip/fan moves three times the air flow rate of an average mechanical fan and is only one fourth the size.

"The technology has the power to cool a 25-watt chip with a device smaller than 1 cubic-cm and can someday be integrated into silicon to make self-cooling chips," said Schlitz.

The National Science Foundation program officer of the project, Juan Figueroa said, "The RSD5 is one of the most significant advancements in electronics cooling since heat pipes. It could change the cooling paradigm for mobile electronics."

Schlitz and Singhal debuted their RSD5 solid-state fan at the 24th Annual Semiconductor Thermal Measurement, Modeling and Management Symposium held in San Jose, California this week.

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