The Beginning of No Cold-Plates and No TIMs
A conventional microprocessor once cooled by a bulky fan, heat sink, and heat pipes is transformed by MezzoFluidics into a compact, ultra-efficient cooling architecture using direct nozzle-jet impingement. Unlike traditional skived or microchannel cold plates that rely on lateral flow across fins, this approach eliminates the cold plate entirely. Instead, the processor’s own heat spreader becomes the effective thermal interface, removing the need for an intervening mass of copper and the thermal interface materials (TIMs)—such as liquid metals or pastes—required to bridge gaps and voids in conventional designs.
What makes this architecture practical and reliable is MezzoFluidics’ specialty sealant gasket. The gasket forms a precision seal between the thermal management fixture and the top of the heat spreader, creating both a compressive seal and a bonded interface to the heat spreader and the underside of the fixture. This dual-action seal prevents leakage, accommodates mechanical tolerances, and enables direct liquid contact without exposing surrounding components to erosion or turbulence. In effect, the gasket defines and protects the impingement zone while allowing the heat spreader itself to function as the “cold plate” surface.
By impinging coolant directly onto the heat-generating surface, MezzoFluidics continuously disrupts the thermal boundary layer, achieving far more efficient heat transfer than lateral flow through skived fins or microchannels. The architecture contains no fragile microstructures and therefore requires little to no filtration. Nozzle apertures on the order of 0.0625 to 0.125 inches—approximately 1,587 to 3,175 microns—are orders of magnitude larger than the 10–100 micron orifices used in jet plates. These larger apertures enable operation at dramatically lower pressures, reducing pump power, minimizing clogging risk, and improving long-term reliability. The result is superior thermal performance with a simpler, more robust, and more efficient cooling system.
