MINIATURIZATION OF THERMOACOUSTIC DEVICES FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF MICROELECTRONICS

Thermoacoustic devices provide an interesting approach to thermal management of high density and high power microelectronics. They are simple, they have no moving parts (except for the acoustic driver) they use gases which are environmentally safe, and they have sufficient efficiency for handling power dissipation problems in electronic circuits. This paper discusses how the efficiency, performance, and components of thermoacoustic devices will be affected by miniaturization and the benefits of a thermoacoustic approach. The components, the interactions between components, and their response on circuits will be affected by their reduction in size; novel materials will have to be developed for certain parts of this application.