Liquid cooling "black technology": Microsoft "engraves" coolant into chips

The explosive growth of AI computing power demand is driving the evolution of liquid cooling technology towards a more advanced direction.

Recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on a social platform that his team has successfully developed microfluidic cooling technology - directly delivering coolant into the chip through tiny hair - thin channels.

According to the experimental data disclosed by Microsoft, the heat dissipation efficiency of microfluidic cooling technology is three times higher than that of existing heat sinks. It can reduce the maximum temperature rise of the chip (the temperature of each component in an electronic device above the ambient temperature) by 65%, thus supporting more dense deployment of data centers and extending the lifespan of hardware.

It is worth mentioning that AI is also involved behind this liquid cooling technology. It is reported that in order to make the coolant cover the hot spots of the chip more precisely, Microsoft cooperated with Swiss startup Corintis and used AI to design a bionic structure, making the internal channels of the chip branch like leaf veins. In addition, the research team also used AI to identify the thermal signals on the chip to achieve adaptive heat dissipation.

The difficulty of the technology lies in the design of the internal channels of the chip. It is necessary to ensure that the channel depth is sufficient to prevent the coolant from clogging during the circulation process, and at the same time, the silicon material cannot be over - etched to cause it to crack. To solve this problem, the Microsoft team carried out four consecutive rounds of iterations in one year.

In the view of the Microsoft team, the birth of microfluidic cooling technology can not only effectively dissipate heat, but may also open the door to a new chip architecture. For example, in 3D chips, this type of architecture generates a large amount of heat during operation, but microfluidic cooling technology can use cylindrical pins between stacked chips to allow the coolant to flow around the chips.

Next, Microsoft will continue to research how to integrate microfluidic cooling technology into its chip products. Microsoft Technical Fellow Jim Kleewein said that this technology has advantages in terms of cost and reliability.

In fact, Microsoft is not the only technology giant promoting the iteration of liquid cooling technology. Recently, there was news that NVIDIA has asked its suppliers to develop a new "Micro - Channel Liquid Cooled Plate (MLCP)" technology. Different from Microsoft's microfluidic cooling technology, it integrates the metal cover on the chip with the liquid - cooled plate, allowing the coolant to flow directly through the chip. In other words, it still falls within the scope of cold - plate liquid cooling.

The so - called cold - plate liquid cooling is a technology that directly attaches a heat exchanger to a heat - generating component for heat dissipation. It uses micro - channels to enhance heat transfer and has high heat - dissipation performance. As a non - contact liquid cooling method, the coolant does not directly contact the heat - generating device, but transfers heat through contact with the cold plate. In addition, the mainstream liquid - cooling technology paths also include immersion and spray cooling.

CICC pointed out that from the perspective of technical characteristics comparison, the three liquid - cooling methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Cold - plate liquid cooling started earlier, has a first - mover advantage, high technical maturity, and a wide range of practical application scenarios. With the characteristics of simple deployment and operation and maintenance, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership, the total cost required for the entire life cycle of purchasing and using an asset) advantages, and a mature industrial chain, cold - plate liquid cooling may become the mainstream liquid - cooling solution in the short term.

In terms of investment, the institution said that during the switch of new liquid - cooling solutions, the pattern of the supply chain may change, bringing opportunities for domestic liquid - cooling chain supporting. Relevant industrial chain companies, including traditional VC manufacturers, liquid - cooling module manufacturers, radiator manufacturers, and 3D printing manufacturers, are expected to benefit.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Caixinlian She", author: Zhang Zhen. It is published by 36Kr with permission.