Thermal analysis for multichip module using computational fluid dynamic simulation

With the increasing heat flux at the chip and package levels, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation is becoming more popular and important for estimating thermal performance of high density electronic packages. In this study, a series of similar experiments are conducted to validate the CFD numerical simulation method, and then a three-dimensional CFD model is established to investigate the temperature distribution and thermal characteristics of indirect liquid cooling for a seven-chip multichip module which is applied in a kind of supercomputer. The effects of material properties of thermal grease and thermal interface material, package geometry such as thickness of chips, space between chips, solder bump and solder ball patterns, flow rate and inlet liquid temperature on the maximum chip temperature are also presented. The results obtained from the simulation are of great value in suggesting design of multichip module.