laptops get warm, very warm, when sitting on your lap. If you use your as much as I do tan you know it can get rather uncomfortable to the naked skin touch after hours of porn surfing use. well GE in collaboration with DARPA have been working on a new phase-change type of thermal conductor to kill FOXDIE cool components more efficiently. Now DARPA wouldn’t be paying for this is that was the only goal, turns out the material doesn’t only cool twice the rate at a quarter of the weight but it also works at 10 times gravity. This nano technology could increase computing speeds and be used in jetliners and secret space laser missions (well at least the former). So should you get excited? well yes definitely if you want children in the future, and maybe yes if you do some socially unacceptable surfing in your local cafe.
Full press release after the jump, wicked long and thorough tho so I’d just skip it.
GE Scientists Demonstrate Breakthrough Thermal Material System to Enable Faster Computing
Develops prototype substrate for high-speed electronics that conducts heat better than copper
Faster laptops, more advanced radar systems and better aviation and naval electronic control systems all potential benefits of new technology
NISKAYUNA, N.Y., March 15, 2011 – Scientists in GE’s Global Research Center have demonstrated an advanced thermal material system that could pave the way to faster computing and higher performing electronic systems. Leveraging technologies developed under GE’s Nanotechnology Advanced Technology Program, they have fabricated a prototype substrate that can cool electronic devices such as a laptop computer twice as well as copper. To learn more about this breakthrough, visit http://visualization.geblogs.com/visualization/nanotech/.
Since the dawn of the electronics age, copper has been a preferred material to cool electronics because of its favorable heat conducting properties. But as electronic systems become more advanced, they are generating more and more heat. Too much heat can limit the overall performance of these systems, impacting computing speed and processing power. New breakthrough materials will be needed to enable more advanced systems and applications.
The development of GE’s prototype substrate, which utilizes phase-change-based heat transfer, is part of a four year, $6 million program funded by the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA, Contract # No. N66001-08-C-2008). As the leading organization of the program, GE Global Research has been collaborating with GE Intelligent Platforms, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and University of Cincinnati on the project.
Dr. Tao Deng, a senior scientist at GE Global Research and the project leader, said, “As electronics become more advanced, we are approaching the point where conventional materials like copper can’t take the heat. For computing to go faster and electronics systems to become more capable, better cooling solutions such as GE’s prototype substrate will be required to allow this to happen.”
Deng added, “In demonstrations, GE’s prototype substrate has functioned effectively in a variety of electronics application environments. We also subjected it to harsh conditions during testing and found it could successfully operate in extremely high gravity applications.”
For more information, read Tao’s blog on Edison’s Desk at http://ge.geglobalresearch.com/blog/a-breakthrough-in-conducting-heat-for-electronics/.
Deng noted that GE’s prototype operated in conditions experiencing more than 10 times the normal force of gravity. By comparison, this gravity force is more than twice the maximum force experienced on the world’s fastest roller coasters.
How it Works
GE’s phase-change based prototype substrate can be applied to computer chips and a variety of different electronic components. It acts as a cooling mechanism that spreads or dissipates the heat generated in electronic systems to keep components cool.
During testing at the Air Force Research laboratories, GE’s research team successfully demonstrated a prototype substrate that was measured to have at least twice the thermal conductivity as copper at only one–fourth of its weight. In addition, the prototype successfully operated in a condition that was more than 10 times normal gravity.
With high thermal conductivity, low weight, and high “G” acceleration performance, this substrate could work well in a variety of different systems, ranging from laptop computers to larger scale, more sophisticated computing systems that run the avionics and electronic control systems on board jetliners and other aircraft.
In collaboration with various agencies from the US government, GE Global Research has been developing several advanced thermal technologies. Besides the DARPA effort, Dr. Deng is also leading a team, supported by Air Force Research Laboratory, to develop advanced thermal solutions for high-speed flight in a 1.5-year, $1 MM effort. These efforts will build a total thermal solution platform to serve multiple GE businesses, including GE Aviation, GE Energy, and GE Intelligent Platforms.
[Engadget]
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