Performance comparison of mesoscale refrigeration technologies for electronics packaging

Utilizing refrigeration is one alternative to improve the operating performance of microelectronic devices. Unless large-scale refrigeration systems are acceptable, it is likely that miniature, or mesoscale, refrigerators will be required that can be directly incorporated into electronic packaging. The present study builds on the authors' previous investigation of mesoscale refrigerators, which emphasized how only thermoelectric coolers (TEC's) are capable of being miniaturized in the near future. Many other refrigeration systems, however, are being examined for their potential to be miniaturized, including the vapor-compression, Stirling, and pulse-tube cycles. Here a simple analysis is presented that shows the feasibility of utilizing these systems in electronics packaging. One finding is that, provided a suitable mesoscale compressor can be constructed, a vapor-compression refrigerator may yield the best performance of the investigated systems.