Design and use of heat spreaders to cool low to moderate power plastic packages

The current trends toward greater heat dissipation by small plastic packages has prompted the need for enhanced cooling methods. This paper discusses the use of a heat spreader that is a viable alternative for cooling low to moderate power plastic packages. The heat spreader is attached to the top of the package to increase the convective cooling rate. A series of thermal simulations were performed using Flotherm software to define the key design variables. The model is validated by comparison to experimental data and is shown to be useful for designing heat spreaders for applications involving multiple ICs and restricted spaces.