Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Thermal management of advanced ICs remains challenging, with models often failing to predict the heat flow through multiple films and interfaces. Advanced Thermal Solutions (ATS) of Norwood, Massachusetts (US) will provide a half-day of free, no-obligation use of its unique Thermal Characterization Laboratory to engineers who need to perform thermal testing of their heat sinks, fans and fan trays, PCBs, blades, enclosures, or complete systems. Experienced engineers and board and system designers can perform the tests themselves, or consult with an ATS thermal engineer at no cost during their 4 hours of laboratory time.
ATS’ Thermal Characterization Lab features open- and closed-loop wind tunnels for ambient and elevated temperature testing (see figure). All wind tunnels are PC-driven controls and provide automated data collection. The lab also offers a full array of the company’s sensor systems and thermocouples, which can be used to characterize electronic products under variable airflow and temperature conditions.
The lab includes a JEDEC-approved component thermal testing facility for conducting various device-level tests. There are also complete liquid crystal and IR thermography systems for non-invasive temperature mapping (0.1 degree C temperature, and one micron spatial resolutions), and a liquid cooling facility for the complete testing and characterization of cold plates.
“Most of today’s electronics have thermal situations that can turn into big problems if left alone. The easiest, lowest cost way to manage this is to conduct an accurate thermal characterization of the problems at hand,” said Kaveh Azar, Ph.D., president and CEO of Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. “If you have the right facility and associated know-how, you can often complete your tests in a half-day, then you can readily assess what is the best thermal solution for your application.”
The company also supplies complete thermal and mechanical packaging solutions from analysis and testing to final production, along with thermal design consulting services and training. All testing and results reporting are completely confidential. Certain restrictions and limits on customer products may apply, e.g. overall size. Consultation prior to use of the lab is not charged or considered part of the free time offer. ATS thermal test engineers will also advise lab patrons how to optimize their free testing period prior to arriving. –E.K.
Tags: characterization, FPD, IC, MEMS, Service, test, thermal