Views: 10 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-05-21 Origin: Site
Our client, a global leader in AI accelerator development, has created a wafer-scale AI chip with side length exceeding 20cm and single-chip power consumption reaching several kilowatts. Heat flux density exceeds 100W/cm². At this power level, traditional air cooling is physically impossible. Off-the-shelf cold plates that can cover such a large area simply do not exist.
The enormous chip surface area amplifies every cooling challenge. Even minor flow non-uniformity can create local hotspots, triggering performance throttling or even permanent damage — an unacceptable risk for chips deployed in large-scale AI training clusters.
Challenge | Description |
|---|---|
Air cooling is physically impossible | Heat flux >100W/cm², total power in kilowatts — no air cooling solution can maintain safe junction temperatures |
No off-the-shelf cold plate exists | 20cm+ side length means 10-20x the surface area of a standard GPU chip — no commercial product available |
Zero hotspots — non-negotiable | Any temperature gradient across the chip surface causes compute unit throttling, affecting AI inference consistency |
Leak-proof reliability is mandatory | A single micro-crack or void near the chip means catastrophic failure. Zero defects required under long-term pressure cycling |
The client defined three non-negotiable requirements:
Requirement | Target |
|---|---|
Full Coverage | Cover 20cm+ chip surface |
Temperature Uniformity | Zero hotspots, zero throttling at full load |
Leak-Proof, Mass-Producible | Copper brazing, manufacturing consistency |
Design a single-piece copper cold plate that simultaneously achieves:
Maximized heat exchange area within a compact footprint
Optimized internal flow distribution to prevent flow maldistribution
Weld contact thermal resistance below measurable thresholds
All of this must be accomplished on a surface area 10x larger than typical GPU cooling solutions.
Select high-purity C10100 copper billet and use precision skiving to directly cut ultra-thin, high-density microchannel fins. Each fin unit forms an independent micro-structure, dramatically expanding the effective heat exchange area within the same footprint.
Why skived fins? Unlike brazed or sintered structures, skived fins have no intermediate material or joint interfaces, eliminating additional thermal resistance. This achieves thermal resistance values impossible with conventional milled or folded fins — without increasing height or weight.
This is the same core process used in our CP006 liquid cold plate. [Learn more about CP006 →]
Assemble multiple independent skived fin copper water blocks into a single, large-format cold plate using high-temperature copper brazing, fully covering the wafer-scale chip surface.
Vacuum brazing ensures void-free, micro-crack-free weld seams — eliminating the risk of micro-cracks and delamination under thermal cycling.
Final Result:
A leak-free monolithic interface
The lowest and most consistent contact thermal resistance across the entire chip area
Use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation to design internal manifold geometry:
Design parallel and multi-pass flow channels to balance pressure drop and heat pickup
Ensure coolant reaches every region of the chip — including corners and edges where hotspots typically form — at uniform flow rate and temperature
Minimize the temperature delta between inlet and outlet for uniform heat dissipation across the entire chip area
Comprehensively test the complete cold plate under realistic operating conditions:
Test Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
Thermal Cycling | Verify reliability under power fluctuations |
Pressure & Leak Testing | Confirm long-term sealing integrity |
Infrared Thermal Imaging | Confirm no local hotspots across the entire chip surface |
All tests passed client specifications.
Parameter | Specification | Significance |
|---|---|---|
Cold Plate Material | C10100 Copper | Highest thermal conductivity, 390 W/m·K |
Fin Process | Skived Microchannel | 3-5x heat exchange area vs. milled channels |
Chip Coverage Area | >400 cm² (20cm+ side length) | Full wafer-scale chip coverage |
Heat Flux Capacity | >100 W/cm² | Handles extreme AI accelerator power |
Assembly Method | Copper Brazing (Vacuum) | Void-free seams, zero micro-leakage risk |
Temperature Uniformity | Zero detectable hotspots | Consistent compute performance across all chip regions |
Operating Pressure | Validated to customer spec | Long-term cyclic pressure testing |
Contact Surface | Precision machined | Minimized thermal interface resistance |
Achieved stable liquid cooling for wafer-scale AI chips under full multi-kW load. Thermal control targets met under all operating conditions. Zero thermal throttling events during continuous AI training workloads.
Proved the feasibility of the "skived fin + copper brazing modular assembly" architecture for wafer-scale and larger applications. Established a reusable thermal technology platform for next-generation, higher-power-density AI accelerators.
Customer achieved stable mass production of their large-scale AI computing system
Thermal-related chip failure risks eliminated
Equipment service life extended
Competitive position in the AI compute infrastructure market strengthened
As AI model complexity grows exponentially, chip power density follows the same curve. The era of wafer-scale computing — with single-chip power consumption reaching kilowatts — has arrived.
This project proves that a well-designed, vacuum-brazed skived fin copper cold plate is the thermal foundation layer for this generation of AI hardware. What we built is not a one-off solution but a scalable architecture that engineering teams can adapt to any wafer-scale or large-die chip project.
Application | Description |
|---|---|
AI Training Clusters | Infrastructure for large-scale LLM and diffusion model training |
HPC / Supercomputing | Scientific simulation nodes with kW-class processor power |
AI Inference Servers | Data center inference clusters requiring large-scale stable performance |
️ Autonomous Driving | High compute density AI platforms in vehicle and roadside systems |
️ Phased Array Radar | Thermal management for large-aperture, high-power electronics |
Greatminds Thermal Technology
A professional engineering team focused on custom liquid cooling solutions for AI chips, high-performance computing, and industrial electronics. With precision skiving manufacturing and vacuum brazing capabilities, our product portfolio spans from embedded systems to wafer-scale AI accelerators.
Developing high-power AI chips? Need a custom cold plate?
Our thermal management engineering team has already solved wafer-scale cooling challenges with skived microchannel and copper brazing solutions. Tell us your chip size, power density, and reliability requirements — we will provide a feasibility assessment within 2 business days.
Website: www.greatminds-cn.com
Email: info@greatminds.com.cn
