Analysis of anisotropic graphene platelet heat spreaders to reduce hot spot temperature and temperature non-uniformity

This work investigates the effect of thin film graphene heat spreaders on the maximum temperature of integrated electric circuits. An electronic chip with a 4 × 3mm footprint featured a centrally located 0.5 × 0.5mm hot spot located on the top wall. The remainder of the top wall was exposed to a uniform background heat flux. The graphene heat spreaders were applied to the top wall of an optimized cooling array of micro pin-fins having airfoil cross-sections. A fully 3D conjugate heat transfer analysis was performed to investigate the effects of different heat spreader thicknesses on the temperature of the hot spot and the temperature distribution on the hot surface. Both isotropic and anisotropic thermal conductivities of heat spreaders were considered. The conjugate heat transfer analysis also incorporated thermal contact resistance.