We talk a lot here on the ATS Thermal Management blog about thermal management. And there’s a good reason for that of course! That’s what we are fanatical about. Keeping electronics cool so they operate at their best design point.
But, after you peel back boiling points, forced thermal spreaders, heat sinks, liquid cooling, thermal interface material, and more you are left with one critical, salient point about what is electronics thermal management.
To ensure that the device junction temperature (Tj) stays below a set limit.
What is a junction? The Hottest Spot on a Chip
When semiconductor designers make a chip, especially a complex ASIC or something like an Intel server processor, these chips are effectively systems. Packed with circuits, and often in very dense packages, certain parts of the chip have sections that operate with greater frequency than other parts. The result, those “spots” or “junctions” are very hot. And so, cooling that junction is the key to all this Thermal Management. That’s our goal.
In fact, the first step in really getting the right solution to your projects thermal challenge is to determine it’s junction temperature. Here’s some handy helps to get you there….
Once you’ve calculated your junction temperature, you can then have a much better chance of choosing the right heat sink.
Of course, if you ever need help with this ATS is here. You can email us at sales.hq@qats.com or give us a call at 781-769-2800 We’re always happy to help with your thermal management projects.