14 DAY TRIAL // Heat has always been a problem for ICs. In the 1990s, the need for active cooling was almost inexistent due to the low speeds of the CPUs. But as CPUs started to reach GHz frequencies, the heat dissipation became a problem. And now, after years of TECs, Cascade Cooling and LN2, it seems that Eneco has found a clever solution for the problem.
Startup Company Eneco last week presented revolutionary power chip that can convert heat directly into electricity, or conversely will cool to about -200 degrees Celsius when a current is applied (like a TEC cooler based on the Peltier effect). "This chip compares with the invention of the transistor, or the TV, or the first aircraft. It is a genuinely disruptive technology," said Dr. Lew Brown, president and CEO of Eneco.
The chip works on the basis of thermionic emissions, which are caused by thermal vibration energy that overcomes the electrostatic forces holding electrons to the surface. The free electrons pass through a vacuum to a cold metal surface, and that creates an electrical charge that can then be used. As temperature rises, so does the effect in an exponential manner.
The actual chip can operate at temperatures of up to 600 degrees Celsius and deliver converted electricity with an efficiency factor of 20-30%. At about the same time, Power Chips Company says it has developed a similar technology with even better results than its counterpart. Using the same principals of thermionic energy, Power Chips says that they are able to achieve a conversion factor of around 40 to 50%.
Power Chips method uses a vacuum gap between the two metals, while Eneco placed a transistor in that space instead of using the same vacuum technique. Chris Bourne of Power Chips says about the vacuum technology: "Without the gap the heat can flow back so you get less efficiency." That being said, creating a vacuum on such a small surface can be difficult, so Power Chips method remains a pure theory for now.